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THE 






JOSEPH FOUCHE, 



DUKE OF OTRAXTTO, 



MINISTER OF THE GENERAL POLICE OF FRANCE. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, 



BOSTON: 

WELLS AND LILLY— COURT-STREET, 

AND 
K. BLISS AKD E. WHITE, NEW-YORk. 

1S25. 






O-' 



Ik Trenafer 



,THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE, 



These Memoirs have neither been produced bj party 
spirit, hatred, nor a desire of vengeance, and still less 
that they might afford food for scandal and malignity. 
I respect all that is deserving of honour in the opinions 
of men. Let me be read, and my intentions, my views, 
my sentiments, and the political motives by which I 
was guided in the exercise of the highest duties, will 
then be appreciated ; let me be read, and it will then 
be seen if, in the councils of the republic and of Napo- 
leon, 1 have not been the constant opponent of the ex- 
travagant measures of the government ; let me be read, 
and it will be apparent if 1 have not displayed some 
courage in my warnings and remonstrances; in short, 
by perusing me, the conviction will follow, that 1 owed 
it as a duty to myself to write what I have written. 

The only means of rendering these Memoirs advan- 
tageous to my own character, and useful to the history 
of those eventful times, was to rest them solely upon 
the pure and simple truth ; to this I have been induced, 
both by disposition and conviction; my situation also 
made it an imperative law to me. Was it not natural 



iv THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 

that I should thus charm away the ennui attendant upon 
fallen power ? 

Under whatever form, the revolution had accustomed 
me to an extreme activity of mind and memory ; irritat- 
ed by solitude, this activity required some vent. It has 
been, therefore, with a species of pleasure and delight 
that I have written this first part of my recollections;* 
I have, it is true, retouched them, but no material 
change has been uiade, not even during the anguish of 
ray last misfortune, for what greater misfortune can 
there be than to wander in banishment, an exile from 
one's country ! 

France, thou that wast so dear to me, never shall 1 
see thee more ! Alas ! at what a cost have I purchased 
power and grandeur? Those who were once my 
friends will no longer offer me their hand. It is clear 
they wish to condemn me even to the silence of the 
future. Vain hope ! I shall find means to disappoint 
the expectations of those who are already anticipating 
the spoils of my reminiscences and revelations ; of those 
who are preparing to lay snares for my children. If 
my children are too young to be on their guard against 
the artifices of the designing, I will ensure their preser- 
vation by seeking, far from the crowd of selfish and 
ungrateful men, a discreet and faithful friend. But 
what do I say ? This other self I have already found, 
and it is to his discretion and fidelity that I confide 
these Memoirs. I constitute him the sole judge after 
my decease of the propriety of their publication. He 

** This advertisement was prelixed to the first part which was 
(.ublished at Paris distinct from the second. [The Second Part, 
Iktc referred to. rommcncos on pao^c *51 of this Edition.] 



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. ¥ 

is in possession of my ideas upon the subject, and I am 
convinced he will only place my work in the hands of 
an honourable man, one who is equally superior to base 
intrigue and sordid speculation. This is assuredly my 
only and best guarantee that these Memoirs shall re- 
main free from the interpolations and garblings of the 
enemies to truth and sincerity. 

In the same spirit of candour I am now preparing 
the second part of them ; I do not blind myself to the 
fact that I have to treat of a period of peculiar delica- 
cy, of one presenting innumerable and serious difficul- 
ties, whether we consider the times, the personages, or 
the calamities which it embraces. But truth, when not 
deformed by the malignancy of the passions, will ever 
command the attention of mankind. 




THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



A PERUSAL of the author's preface will shew that I 
might indulge some degree of self-satisfaction in the ful- 
filment of his intentions relative to the publication of 
these Memoirs. Pecuniary advantages had no share in 
the selection of myself as editor, and I dare affirm, that 
in accepting the office, I was actuated by equal disin- 
terestedness. To all persons but myself, such a publi- 
cation would have been a great desideratum, and they 
would only have considered it as a source of profit, per- 
haps after all ideal. On the contrary, I only saw in it 
a duty ; this I have fulfilled, but not without hesitation : 
I will even confess, that it became necessary to strength- 
en my own opinion by that of others. The title of the 
work, and the subjects which it treats, appeared but 
too well calculated to create uneasiness in my mind. 
I was anxious neither to trespass against the laws, shock 
public decorum, nor offend the government of my coun- 
try. Not daring then to confide in my own judgment, I 
consulted a gentleman of considerable experience, and 
his assurances have removed my apprehensions. If I 
requested him to favour me with a few notes, it was 



vm THE EDITOR'S PREFACE. 

rather to confirm my own opinions, than to present a 
contrast between the text and the commentaries. Al- 
though these notes were far from being numerous, they 
had, however, nearly deprived me of the publication of 
these posthumous Memoirs. At length, the person 
commissioned to fulfil the author's intentions yielded to 
the force of my reasons, and I am now enabled to an- 
nounce to the public that no time shall be lost in bring- 
ing out the second part of the Memoirs of the Duke of 
Otranto. As to the intenseness of their interest, and 
their authenticity, I shall merely say with the author — 
Read. 



\ 



MEMOIRS 



OF 



JOSEPH FOUCHlfc. 



•DTJKH OF OTRAZTTO. 



HE man who, in turbulent and revolutionary times, 
was solely indebted for the honours and power with 
which he was invested, and, in short, for his distinguish- 
ed fortune, to his own prudence and abilities ; who, at 
first elected a national representative, was, upon the 
re-establishment of order, an ambassador, three times 
a minister, a senator, a duke, and one of the principal 
directors of state affairs ; this man would be wanting to 
himself if, to answer the calumnies of libellers, he 
descended to apology or captious refutations he must 
adopt other means. 

This man, then, is myself. Raised by the revolution, 
it is only to a counter one, which I foresaw, and might 
myself have brought about, but against which at the 
critical moment I was unprepared, that I owe my down- 
fall. 

This fall has exposed me, defenceless, to the clamours 
of malignity and the insults of ingratitude ; — me, who 
for a long time invested with a mysterious and terrible 
power, never wielded it but to calm the passions, dis- 
unite factions, and prevent conspiracies ;-— me, who was 
2 



10 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. . 

never-ceasinglj employed in moderating and tempering 
power, in conciliating and amalgamating the jarring 
elements and conflicting interests which divided France. 
No one dares deny that such was my conduct, so long 
as I exercised any influence in the government or in the 
councils of the state. What have 1, an exile, to oppose 
to these furious enemies, to this rabble which now per- 
secute me, after having grovelled at my feet? Shall I 
answer them with the cold declamations of the school, 
or with refined and academic periods? Certainly not; 
I will confound them by facts and proofs, by a true 
exposition of my labours; of my thoughts, both as a 
minister and a statesman ; by the faithful recital of the 
political events, and the singular circumstances, through 
Avhich I steered in times of turbulence and violence. 
This is the object I propose to myself. 

From truth I think 1 have nothing to dread ; and 
even were it so, I would speak it. The tioie for its con- 
summation has arrived : I will speak it, cost what it may, 
so that when the tomb covers my mortal remains, my 
name shall be bequeathed to the judgment of history. 
It is, however, just that I should appear before its 
tribunal with these Memoirs in my hand. 

And first, let me not be considered responsible either 
for the revolution, its consequences, or even its direc- 
tion. I was a cipher; I possessed no authority when 
its first shocks, overturning France, shook Einope to its 
foundations. Besides, what was this revolution? It is 
notorious, that previous to the year 1789, preseutinjcnts 
of the destruction of empires had created uneasiness 
in the monarchy. Empires themselves are not exempt- 
ed from that universal law which subjects all mundane 
things to change and decomposition. Has there ever 
been one whose historical duration has cxcec^d a cer- 
tain nunjber of ages? At most tluiir gicatest longevity 
may be fixed at twelve or fourteen centuries ; whence 
it may be inferred that a monarchy which h:id already 
lasted thirteen hundred years without uiidngoing any 
violent change, was not far from a catastrophe. Of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE* 11 

what consequence is it, if rising from its ashes and re- 
organized, it has subjected Europe to the yoke and 
terror of its arms? Should its power again escape, 
again will it decline and perish. Let us not inquire 
what may be the new metamorphoses to which it is 
destined. The geographical configuration of France 
ensures us a distinguished part in the ages yet to come. 
Gaul, when conquered by the masters of the world, 
remained subjected only for three hundred years. 
Other invaders are no^'v forging, in the north, the 
chains which shall enslave Europe. The revolution 
erected a bulwark which arrested them for a time — 
t is being demolished piecemeal; but though destroyed, 
t will again be raised, for the present age is powerful j 
iit carries along with it men, parties, and governments. 

You who exclaim so furiously against the wonders of 
the revolution — you who directed it without daring to 
face it — you have experienced it, and perhaps may 
experience it once more. 

Who provoked if, and whence did we first see it 
rise ! From the saloons of the great, from the cabinets 
of the ministers. It was invited, provoked by the par* 
liaments and by those about the king — by young colo- 
nels, by court mistresses, by pensioned men of letters, 
whose persons were protected, and sentiments re-echoed 
by duchesses. 

I have seen the nation blush at the depravity of the 
higher classes, the licentiousness of the clergy, the 
ignorant blunders of the ministers, and at the picture 
of the disgusting dissoluteness of the modern Babylon. 

Was it not those that were considered the flowers of 
France, who, for forty years, established, and support- 
ed, the adoration of Voltaire and Rousseau ? Was it 
not among the higher classes that the mania of demo- 
cratical independence, transplanted from the United 
States into the French soil, first took root ? Dreams of 
a republic were already afloat, while corruption was at 
its height in the monarchy ! Even the example of a 
monarch exemplary and strict in his morals could not 



12 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

arrest the torrent. During this demoralization of the 
upper classes, the nation increased in knowledge and 
intellect. By continually hearing emancipation repre- 
sented as a duty, it at length believed it as such. 
History itself can here attest that the nation was un- 
acquainted with the arts which prepared the catas- 
trophe. It might have been made to have advanced 
with the times ; the King, and all men of intellect, 
desired it. But the corruption and avarice of the 
great, the errors of the magistrates and of the court, 
and the mistakes of the ministry, dug the pit of destruc- 
tion. It was, besides, so easy to urge to extremities a 
petulant and inflammable nation, one which, on the 
slightest provocation, would rush into excesses! Who 
fired the train ? Did the Archbishop of Sens, did Necker 
the Swiss, Mirabeau, La Fayette, D'Orleans, Adrian 
Duport, Chauderlos Laclos, the Staels, the Laroche- 
foucaulds, the Beauvcaus, the Montmorencys,* the 
Uvailles, the Laraeths, the La Tour du Pin, the 
Lefrancs de Pomplgnan, and so many other promoters 
of the triumphs in 1789 over the royal authority — did 
these belong to the tiers-etat ? But for the meetings of 
the Palais Royal and Mont Rouge, the Breton Club 
had been harmless. There would have been no 14th 
of July, if on the 12th the troops and generals of the 

* This name so truly French, and already so illustrious from its 
historical celebrity, has become, if possible, still more respectable, 
since tiie Duke Matthieu de Montmorency, to whose conduct Fouche 
here alludes, has done honour to himself by a public avowal of his 
fault. The sincerity and nobleness of his conduct as a minister and 
a statesman have likewise gained him universal esteem. M. Foucht$ 
cannot injure the reputation of so respectable a character. The 
great protector of the old noblesse under the imperial regime, 
Foucht'; recriminates here, in order to reproach that very noblesse 
with its participation in the revolution ; it is among the revolution- 
ists a forced recrimination. \Vhat he says may be true in some 
respects ; hut a small minority ot an order is not the whole of it ; 
there will also always be an immense distance between the follies, 
imprudences, and faults of 178!», and the dreadful crimes of 1793. 
Fouchc's subtle manner of reasoning, in order to exculpate himself", 
docs not appear to us historically conclusive. — Note of (he Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 13 

King had done their duty. Besenval was a creature of 
the Queen's ; and Besenval, at the decisive moment, in 
spite of the King's orders, sounded a retreat, instead of 
advancing against the insurgents. Marshal Broglio 
himself was paralyzed by his staff. These are incon- 
trovertible facts. 

It is well known by what arts the common people 
were roused to insurrection. The sovereignty of the 
people was proclaimed by the defection of the army 
and the court. Is it surprising, that the factious and 
the heads of parties (meneurs) should have got the 
revolution into their hands? The impulse of innova- 
tions, and the exaltation of ideas did the rest. 

The revolution was commenced by a prince who 
might have mastered it, changing the dynasty, but his 
cowardice permitted it to proceed at random, and with- 
out an object. In the midst of this distress, some gen- 
erous hearts, some enthusiastic minds, joined with a few 
free-thinkers (espriis forts), sincerely imagined, that a 
social regeneration was practicable, and, trusting to pro- 
testations and oaths, employed themselves in its accom- 
plishment. 

It was under these circumstances that we, obscure 
men of the tiers-etat, and inhabitants of the provinces, 
were attracted and seduced by the dreams of liberty, 
by the intoxicating fiction of the restoration of the 
state. We pursued a chimera with the fever of the 
public good ; we had, at that time, no secret objects, 
no ambition, no views of sordid interest. 

Opposition, however, soon inflaming the passions, par- 
ty spirit gave rise to implacable animosities. Evenr 
thing was carried to extremities. The multitude was 
the sole mover. For the same reason that Louis \l¥. 
had said, " I am the state," the people said, " We arc 
the sovereign ; the state is the nation ;" and the nation 
proceeded quite alone. 

And here, let us remark a fact which will serve as a 
key to the events which will follow ; for these events 
bear upon the wonderful. The dissentient royalists. 



14 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

and the counter-revolutionists, for want of available ma- 
terials for a civil war, finding themselves shut out from 
honours, had recourse to emigration, the resource of the 
weak. Finding no support at home, they ran to seek 
it abroad. Following the cxamj^le of all nations, under 
similar circumstances, the nation desired that the estates 
of the emigrants should be held as a guarantee for the 
motives which had induced them to arm themselves 
against her, and to wish to arm all Europe. But how 
could the right of proprietorship, the foundation of the 
monarchy, be touched, without sapping its own basis ? 
Sequestration led to spoliation ; and from that moment 
the whole fell to ruin ; for the mutation of property is 
synonymous vvith the subversion of the established order 
of things. It is not I who said, " Property must go in- 
to other hands !" This sentence was more Agrarian 
than all that the Gracchi could have uttered, and no 
Scipio Nasica was to be found. 

From that moment the revolution Avas nothing but a 
scene of ruin and destruction. The terrible sanction of 
war was wanting to it, and the European cabinets, of 
their own accord, opened the temple of Janus. From 
the commencement of this great contest, the revolution, 
•full of youth and ardour, triumphed over the old sys- 
tem, over the despicable coalition, and over the wretch- 
ed and discordant operations of its armies. 

Another fact must also be adduced, in order to draw 
from it an important inference. The first coalition was 
repulsed, beaten, and humiliated. But let us suppose 
that it had triumphed over the patriotic confederacy of 
France ; that the advance of the Prussians into Cham- 
pagne had met with no serious obstacle as far even as 
the capital ; and that the revolution had been disor- 
ganized even in its very birth-place : admitting this hy- 
pothesis, France would certainly have shared the fate 
of Poland, by a dismemberment, and by the degrada- 
tion of its soverei2;n ; for such was at that time the po- 
litical tiiomo of the cabinets, arid the spirit of their co- 
partnership diplomacy. The progress of knowledge had 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 15 

not yet introduced the discovery of the European con- 
federacy, of military occupation, with subsidies. By 
preserving France, the patriots of 1792 not only res- 
cued her from the hands of foreigners, but laboured, 
though unintentionally, for the restoration of the mo- 
narchy. This is incontestible. 

Much outcry has been made against the excesses of 
this sanguinary revolution. Could it remain calm and 
temperate, when surrounded by enemies, and exposed 
to invasion ? Numbers deceived themselves, but few 
were criminal. The cause of the tenth of August is 
alone to be ascribed to the advance of the combined 
Austrians and Prussians. Had they marched later, it 
would have been of little consequence. The suicide of 
France was not yet near at hand. 

Undoubtedly, the revolution was violent, and even 
cruel in its progress ; all this is historically known, nor 
shall I dwell upon it, such not being the object of this 
work. It is of myself I wish to speak, or rather of the 
events In which I was concerned as a minister of state. 
It was necessary that I should Introduce the subject, 
and describe the character of the times. Let not the 
generality of my readers suppose that I shall tediously 
reclte my private life, as a private individual or obscure 
citizen. Of what advantage would it be to know the 
first steps of my career ? Minutiae such as these can 
only interest the famished compilers of contemporane- 
ous biography, or the simpletons who read them ; they 
have nothing to do in common with history, and it is to 
that which I aspire. 

My being the son of the owner of a privateer, and of 
having been at first destined for the sea, can be of lit- 
tle consequence : my family was respectable. It can 
likewise atford but little interest to know — that I was 
brought up among the Peres de I'Oratoire, that I was 
one myself, that I devoted myself to teaching, and that 
the revolution found me prefect of the college of Nan- 
tes ; it may, at least, be inferred, that I was neither an 
ignoramus nor a fool. It is, likewise, entirely false, that 



16 MEJIOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

I was ever a priest, or had taken orders ; I make this 
remark to show that I was perfectly at liberty to be- 
come a iVee-thinker, or a philosopher, Avithout being 
guilly 01 apostacy : certain it is tliat I quitted the ora- 
tory before 1 exercised any public functions, and that 
under the sanction of the law, I married at Nantes, with 
the intention of exercising the profession of a lawyer, 
which was much more consonant to my own inclinations 
and to the state of society. [Resides, 1 was morally 
what the acre was, with the advantage of beinsr so nei- 
ther from imitation nor infatuation, but from reflection 
and disposition. With such principles, is it no subject 
of self-congratulation, to have been nominated by my 
fellow-citizens, without the employment either of arti- 
fice or intrigue, a representative of the people at the 
National Convention? 

It is in this political defile that the deserters of the 
Court wait to attack me. There are no exaffee rat ions, 
no excesses, no crimes, either when in office, or in the 
tribune, with \vhich they have not loaded my historical 
i'es[)ons!bility, taking words for actions, and forced 
speeches for principles; neither taking into the account, 
time, place, nor circumstance ; and making no allowance 
for an universal delirium, for the republican fever, of 
which twenty millions of Frenchmen felt the paroxysms. 
My first introduction into the Government was in the 
committee of public instruction, where I connected my- 
self With Condorcet, and through him with Vcigniaud. 
A circumstance relating to one of the most important 
crises of my life must here be mentioned. By a singu- 
lar chance, I had been acquainted with Maximilian Ro- 
bespierre at the lime I was professor of philosophy in 
the town of Arras, and had even alTordcd him [)ecuni- 
ary assistance to enable him to settle in Paris, when he 
was appointed de[)uty to the National Assembly. When 
wo again met at the Convention, we, at first, saw eacli 
other Irequcntly ; but the dilVcrence of our oj)inions, 
and, perhaps, the still greater dissimilarity of our char- 
acters, soon caused a separation. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 17 

One day, at the conclusion of a dinner given at my 
house, Robespierre began to declaim with much vio- 
lence against the Girondins, particularly abusing Verg- 
niaud, who was present, I was much attached td 
Vergniaud, who was a great orator, and a man of un- 
affected manners. 1 went round to him, and advancing 
towards Robespierre, said to him, " Such violence may ' 
assuredly enlist the passions on your side, but will never 
obtain for you esteem and confidence." Robespierre, 
offended, left the room, and it will shortly be seen how 
far this malignant man carried his animosity against me. 

I had, however, no share in the political system of 
the Gironde party, of which Vergniaud was the reput- 
ed head. I conceived that the effect of this system 
would be to disunite France, by raising the greater por- 
tion of it in circles (^zones) and provinces, against Paris. 
In this I foresaw great danger, being convinced that 
there was no safety for the state but in the unity and 
indivisibility of the body politic. This was what induc- 
ed me to enter a faction whose excesses I inwardly de- 
tested, and whose violence marked the progress of the 
revolution. What horrors waited on the names of Mo- 
rality and Justice ! But, it must be admitted, we were 
not sailing in peaceful seas. 

The revolution was at its height ; we were without 
rudder, without government, ruled by one only assem- 
bly, a species of monstrous dictatorship, the offspring of 
confusion, and which alternately presented a counter- 
part of the anarchy of Athens and the despotism of the 
Ottomans. 

It is here, then, that the revolution and the counter- 
revolution are politically at issue. Is the question to 
be decided by the jurisprudence which regulates the 
decisions of criminal tribunals, or the correctional police ? 
The convention, notwithstanding its atrocities, excesses, 
and its furious decrees, or, perhaps, by those very de- 
crees, saved the country beyond its integral limits. 
This is an incontestible fact, and for that reason, I do 
not deny my participation in its labours. Each of its 
3 



l^ MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

members, when accused before the the tribunal of his- 
tory, may confine himselr to the limits of Scijjio's de- 
fence, and say with that great man, " I have saved the 
republic — let us repair to the capitol to thank the 
gods !" 

There was, however, ojie vote which is unjustifiable ; 
1 will even own^ without a blush, that it sometimes 
awakens remorse within moi^ But I call the God of 
Truth to witness, that it was far less against the mo- 
narch that I aimed the blow (for he was good and just) 
-than against the kingly office, at that lime incompatible 
with the new order of things. I will also add, for con- 
cealment is no longer of avail, that it then appeared to 
me, as to £o many others, that we could not inspire the 
representatives, and the mass of the people, with. an 
energy sufficient to surmount the difficulties of the crisis, 
but by abandoning e|^ry thing like moderation, break- 
ing through all restraint, and indulging the extremity of 
revolutionary excess. Such was the reason of state 
which appeared to us to require this frightful sacrifice. 
In politics, even atrocity itself may sometimes produce 
a salutary effisct. 

The world would not now call us to account, if the 
tree of liberty, having taken strong and firm root, had 
resisted the axe wielded even by those who had plant- 
ed it with their own hands. That Br utus was more 
happy in erecting the noble edifice which he besprink- 
led with his ciiildren's blood, I can readily conceive ; it 
was far more easy for him to have placed the fasces of 
the monarchy in the hands of the aristocracy already- 
organized. The representatives of 1*93, by sacrificing 
the representative of royalty, the father of the monar- 
chy, for the purpose of founding a republic, had no 
choice in the means of accomj)lishiniy their object. The 
level of equality was already so violently established in 
the nation, that the authority was necessarily entrusted 
to a lloatiijg democracy : it could only work upon a mov- 
ing sand. After having condemned myself as judge and 
accused, let me, at least, be allowed to avail myself, in 
the exercise of ray conventional duties, of some cxtenu- 



MEMOIRS OE FOUCHE. 19 

ating circumstances. Being despatched upon a mission 
into the department, forced to employ the language of 
the times, and to yield to the fatality of circumstances, 
I found myself compelled to put in execution the law 
against suspected persons. This law ordered the im- 
prisonment, en masse, of pfSests and nobles. The fol- 
lowing is what I wrote, the following is what I dared 
to publish, in a proclam^on issued by me, on the 25th 
of August, 1793 :— 

" The law wills that suspected persons should be re- 
moved from social intercourse ; this law is commanded 
by the interests of the state ; but, to take for the basis 
of your opinions vague accusations, proceeding from the 
vilest passions, would be to favour a tyrannjias repug- 
nant to my own heart as it is to natural equity. The 
sword must not be wielded at hazard. The laAV de- 
crees severe punishments, and nJft proscriptions, as im- 
moral as they are barbarous." 

It required at that time some courage to mitigate as 
much as was in one's power the rigour of the conven- 
tional decrees. I was not so fortunate in my missions 
as collective commissioner, (commissariat colkctijl) be- 
cause the power of decision was not entrusted to my- 
self alone. Throughout my missions, the actions which 
may be considered as deserving of censure will be found 
far less than the every-day phrases, expressed in the 
language of the times, and which in a period of greater 
tranquillity still inspire a kind of dread ; besides, this 
language was, so to speak, official and peculiar. Let 
not also my situation at this period be mistaken. I was 
the delegate of a violent assembly, and I have already 
proved that I eluded or softened down several of its 
severe measures. In other respects, these pretended 
pro-consulates reduced the commissioned deputy to be 
nothing more than a man-machine, the wandering com- 
missary of the committees of public safety and general 
security. I was never a member of these government 
committees ; therefore, I never held, during the reign 
of terror, the helm of power; on the contrary, as will 



•iO MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

shortly bo seen, 1 was mjself a sufferer by it. This 
Avill prove how ranch my resporisibihty was confined. 

But let us unwind the thread of these events. Like 
that of Ariadne, it will conduct us out of the labyrinth ; 
and we can then attain the object of these memoirs, the 
splicrc of which will increaec in importance. 

The paroxysm of revolution and of terror was at hand. 
The guillotine was the only iiistrunient of government. 
Suspicion and mistrust preyed upon every heait ; fear 
cowered over all. Even those who held in their hands 
the instrument of terror, were at times menaced with it. 
One man alone in the convention appeared to enjoy an 
inexpugnable popularity : this was Robespierre, a man 
full of pride and cunning; an envious, malignant, and 
vindictive being, who was never satiated with the blood 
of his colleagues; and who, by his capacity, steadiness, 
the clearness of his head, and the obstinacy of his cha- 
racter, surmounted circumstances the most appalling. 
Availing himself of his preponderance in the committee 
of public safety, he openly aspired, not only to the ty- 
ranny of the decemviri, but to the despotism of the dic- 
tatorship of Marius and Sylla. One step more would 
have sfiven him the masterdom of the revolution, which 
it was his audacious ambition to govern at his will ; but 
thirty victims more were to be sacrificed, and he had 
marked them in the convention. He well knew that I 
understood him; and I, therefore, was honoured by 
being inscribed upon his tablets at the head of those 
doomed to destruction. I was still on a mission, when 
he accused me of oppressing the j)at riots and tampering 
with the aristocracy. Being recalled to Paris, I dared 
to call upon him from the tribune, to make good his ac- 
cusation. He caused me to be expelled from the jaco- 
bins, of whom he was the high-nncst; this was for rac 
equivalent to a decree of proscription.* I did not trifle 

* After the death of Ilanton, of Camillc-DesmouUns, and other 
deputies who were seized during^ the ni-^ht at their habitations l»y 
a mere order of the coininittccs, delivered over to the revolution- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 21 

in confepding for my head, nor in long and secret delib- 
erations with such of my colleagues as were threatened 
with my own fate. I merely said to them, among others 
to Legendre, Tallien, Dubois de Crance, Daunou, and 
Chenier : " You are on the list, you are on the list as 
well as myself; I am certain of it!" Tallien, Barras, 
Bourdon de I'Oise, and Dubois de Crance evinced some 
energy. Tallien contended lor two lives, of which one 
was then dearer to him than his own : he therefore re- 
solved upon assassinating the future dictator, even in the 
convention itself. But what a hazardous chance was 
this ! Robespierre's popularity would have survived 
him, and we should have been immolated to his manes. 
I therefore dissuaded Tallien from an isolated enter- 
prise, which would have destroyed the man, but pre- 
served his system. Convinced that other means must 
be resorted to, I went straight to those who shared with 
Robespierre the government of terror, and whom I 
knew to be envious or fearful of his immense popularity. 
I revealed to CoUot d'Herbois, to Carnot, to Beilaud de 
Varennes, the designs of the modern Appius ; and I pre- 
sented to each of them separately, so lively and so true 
a picture of the danger of their situation, I urged them 
with so much ability and success, that I insinuated into 
their breasts more than mistrust, — the courage of hence- 
forth opposing the Tyrant in any further decimating of 
the convention. "Count the votes," said I to them, 
" in your committee, and you will see, that when you 
are determined he will be reduced to the powerless 
minority of a Couthon and a St. Just. Refuse him your 
votes, and reduce him to stand alone by your vis. in- 
ertice.^^ 

ary tribunal, tried and condemned without being able to defend 
themselves, Legendre, the friend of Danton, Courtois, Tallien, and 
abo'. e thirty other deputies, never slept at home ; they wandered 
about during the night from one to another, fearful of sharing the 
same fate as Danton. Fouche was more than two months without 
having any fixed residence. It was thus that Robespierre made 
those tremble who seemed desirous of opposing his views to the 
dictatorship. — JYote by the Editor. 



22 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

But what contrivances, what expedients were neces- 
sary to avoid exasperating the Jacobin club, the Seides, 
and th( artisans of Robespierre! Sure oi" having suc- 
ceede 1 had the cuurage to defy him, on the 20lh 
Prairiai (June 8, 1794,) a day, on which, actuated with 
the ridiculous idea of solemnly acknowledging the exis- 
tence of the Suprunae Being, he dared to proclaim him- 
self both his will and agcnl, in presence of all the people 
assembled at the Tuileries. As he was ascending the 
steps of his lofty tribune, whence he was to proclaim 
his manifesto in favour of God, I predicted to him aloud 
(twenty of my colleagues heard it,) that his fall was 
near. Five days after, in full committee, he demanded 
my head and that of eight of my friends, reserving to 
himself the destruction of twenty more at a later pe- 
riod. How great was his astonishment, and what was 
his rage, upon finding^ amongst the members of the com- 
mittee an invincible opposition to his sanguinary designs 
against the national representation I It has already 
been too much mutilated, said they to him, and it is 
high time to put a stop to a proscription, which at last 
■will includa ourselves. 

Finding himself in a minority, he withdrew, choked 
with rage and disappointment, swearing never to set 
foot again in the corauiittee, so long as his will should 
be opposed. He immediately sent for St. Just, who 
was with the army, rallied Couthon under his sanguina- 
ry banner, and by his influence over the revolutionary 
tribunal, still made the convention and all those who 
were operated on by fear, to tremble. Being confident 
of the supj)ort of the Jaeobin club, of Henriot, the com- 
mander of the national guard, and of all the revolution- 
ary comtnittees of the capital, he flattered himself that 
lie had still adhorenls lully suflicient to carry him 
through. By thus keeping hinif^elf at a distance from 
the seat of power, he was desirous of throwing uj^on 
Iiis adversaries the general execration, of making them 
appear as the sole perpetrators of so many murders, 
and of delivering them up to the vengeance of a peoph 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 23 

which now began to murmur at the shedding of so 
much blood. But cowardly, mistrustful, and timid, he 
was incapable of action, and permitted five weeks to 
pass away betweer. this secret secession, and the crisis 
which was silently approaching. 

I did not overlook his situation ; and seeing him re- 
duced to a single faction, I secretly urged such of his 
enemies as still adhered to the committee, at least to 
remove the artillery from Paris, who were all devoted 
to Robespierre and the commune, and to deprive Hen- 
riot of his command, or at least to suspend him. The 
first measure I obtained, thanks to the firmness of Car- 
not, who alleged the necessity of sending reinforcements 
of artillery to the army. As to depriving Henriot of 
his command, that appeared too hazardous; Henriot re- 
mained, and Avas near losing all, or rather, to speak the 
truth, it was he, who on the 9th Thermidor (the 27th 
July) ruined the cause of Robespierre, the triumph of 
which w^as for a short time in his power. But what 
could be expected from a ci-devant drunken and stupid 
footman. 

What follows is too well known for me to enlarge 
upon it. It is notorious how Maximilian the First pe- 
rished ; a man whom certain authors have been very 
anxious of comparing to the Gracchi, to whom he bore 
not the slightest resemblance, either in eloquence or 
elevation of mind. I confess that, in the delirium of 
victory, I said to those who favoured his ambitious 
views, "You do him much honour; he had neither plan, 
nor design: far from disposing of futurity, he was 
drawn along, and did but obey an impulse he couJd nei- 
ther oppose nor govern." But at that time I was too 
near a spectator of events justly to appreciate their 
histor3% 

The sudden overthrow of the dreadful system which 
suspended the nation between life and ' death, was 
doubtless a grand epoch of liberty ; but, in this world, 
good IS ever mixed with evil. What took place after 
Robespierre's fall? that which we have seen to have 



24 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

been the case after a fall still more memorable. Those 
who were the most abject before the decemvir, could, 
after his death, find no expression strong enough to ex- 
press their detestation of him. 

It was soon a subject of regret, that so happj an 
event had not been made to contribute to the public 
good, instead of serving as a pretext to glut the hatred 
and vengeance of those who had been sufferers by the 
revolution. To terror succeeded anarchy, and to anar- 
chy re-action and vengeance. The revolution was 
blasted both in its principles and end; the patriots 
were for a long time exposed to the fury of the Si- 
caires, enlisted in companies of the Sun and of Jesus. 
I had escaped the proscription of Robespierre, but 1 
could not those of the re-actors. They pursued me 
even into the convention, whence, by dint of recrimina- 
tions and false accusations, they caused my expulsion by 
a most iniquitous decree ; I passed almost a year, the 
victim of every species of insult and odious persecution. 
It was then I began to reflect upon man, and upon the 
character of factions. I was compelled to wait, (for 
with us there is nothing but extremes) — I was compel- 
led to wait till the cup was full, till the excesses of re- 
action had placed in jeopardy the revolution itself, and 
the convention en masse. ' Then, and not till then, it 
saw the abyss which yawned at its feet. The crisis 
was awful — it was existence, or non-existence. The 
convention took up arms ; the persecution of the pa- 
triots was stopped, and the cannon of one day (13th 
Vendemiaire) restored order among the crowd of coun- 
ter-revolutionists, who had imprudently risen without 
chiefs and without any centre of object and action. 

The cannon of Vcndrmiairo, directed by Bonaparte, 
having in some degree restored me to liberty and ho- 
nour, I confess that I was the more interested in the 
destiny of this young general, who was clearing for 
himself a road by which he was soon to arrive at the 
most astonishing renown of modern time?. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 26 

I had still, however, to contend with the severities of 
a destiny which did not yet seem inchned to bend and 
be propitious to me. The establishment of the direc- 
torial regime, after this last convulsion, was nothing 
more than the attempt of a multifarious government, 
appointed as the directors of a democratical republic of 
forty millions of souls ; for the Rhine and the Alps al- 
ready formed our natural barrier. This was, indeed, 
an attempt of the utmost boldness, in presence of the 
armies of a coalition, formed by inimical governments 
and disturbers of the common peace. The war, it is 
true, constituted our strength ; but it was attended 
with reverses, and it was as yet uncertain which of the 
two systems, the ancient or modern, would triumph. 
More seemed to be expected from the capacity of the 
men intrusted with the direction of affairs, than from 
the force of events and the efTervescence of recent 
passions : too many vices discovered themselves. Our 
interior was also not easily to be managed. It was 
with difficulty that the directorial government endea- 
voured to open itself a safe road between two active 
and hostile factions — that of the demagogues, who only 
considered our temporary magistrates as oligarchs easi- 
ly to be replaced, and that of the auxiliary royalists 
abroad, who, unable to strike a decisive blow, fanned in 
the southern and western provinces the embers of civil 
war. The directory, however, like every new govern- 
ment, which almost always possesses the advantage of 
being gifted with activity and energy, procured fresh 
resources, and brought back victory to the armies, 
stifling at the same time intestine war. But it was 
perhaps too much alarmed at the proceedings of the 
demagogues; 1st, because their principal rendezvous 
was in Paris, under the eyes of the directory itself ; and 
2nd, because the discontented patriots constituted their 
sole power. This difficulty, which might have been 
easily avoided, caused a deviation in the policy of the 
directory. It abandoned the revolutionists, an order of 
men to which it owed its existence, and preferred far 
4 



26 M.OI01RS OF FOUCHE. 

vouring those cameleons, devoid of character and inte- 
grity — the instruments of power, so long as it can make 
itself respected, and its enemies the moment it begins to 
totter. Five men, who in the convention had been 
remarkable for the energy of their votes, upon being 
invested with supreme authority were seen to repel 
their ancient colleagues to caress the metis and the 
royalists, and adopt a system totally opposed to the 
condition of their existence. 

Thus, under the repubhcan government, of which I 
was a founder, 1 was, if not proscribed, at least in com- 
plete disgrace, obtaining neither employment, respect, 
nor credit, and sharing this unaccountable dishke, for 
nearly three years, Avith a great number of my former 
colleagues, men of approved abilities and patriotism. 
If 1 at length made my way, it was by the assistance of 
a particular circumstance, and of a change of system 
brought about by the force of circumstances. This 
deserves being particularized. 

Of all the members of the directory, Barras was the 
only one who was accessible to his former, but now cast 
off, colleagues; he had, and deserved, the reputation of 
possessing an amiability, candour, and generosity pecu- 
liar to the people of the south. Without being well 
versed in politics, he had a resolution and a certain 
tact. The exaggerated reflections upon his manners 
and his moral principles, was precisely what drew 
around him a court which swarmed with intriguers, 
male and female. He was at this time Carnot's rival ; 
and only maiiitained himself in the public' opinion, by 
the idea that, in case of need, he would be seen on 
horseback, braving, as on the 13th Vendcmiairc, every 
hostile elTort ; he also affected being the premier of the 
republic, going to the chase, having Ins packs of hounds, 
his courtiers, and mistresses. I had known him both 
before and after the catastrophe of Kobesjiicrrc. and I 
had remarked that the justice of my lollections and 
presentiments h.ad had its effect upon him : I had a se- 
cret interview with him, through the medium of Lorn- 



aiEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 27 

bard-Taradeau, one of his commensals and confidants. 
This was during the first difficulties of the directory, at 
that time struggling with the Baboeuf faction. I im- 
parted my ideas to Barras ; he himself desired me to 
draw them up in a memorial ; this I did, and transmit- 
ted it to him. The position of the directory was there- 
in politically considered, and its dangers enumerated 
with the greatest precision. I characterized the faction 
Babceuf, which had dropt the mask before me; and 
showed him that, while raving about the Agrarian law, 
its real object was to surprise and seize by assault the 
directory, and the supreme power, which would again 
have plunged us into demagogy with terror and blood- 
shed. My memorial had its effect ; the evil was eradi- 
cated. Barras then offered me a second-rate place, 
which I refused, being unwilling to obtain employments 
by mere drudgery ; he assured me that he had not suf- 
ficient interest to promote me, that his efforts to over- 
come the prejudices of his colleagues against me had 
been ineffectual. A coolness succeeded, and all was 
deferred. 

In the interval an opportunity presented itself of 
rendering myself independent as far as fortune was con- 
cerned. I had sacrificed my profession and my exis- 
tence to the revolution ; and by an effect of the most 
unjust prejudices, the field of advancement was closed 
against me. My friends pressed me to follow the exam- 
ple of several of my former colleagues, who, finding 
themselves in the same case with myself, had obtained, 
by the influence of the directors, shares in the govern- 
ment contracts (Jburnitures.) A company was formed ; 
I was admitted into it, and by the influence of Barras, I 
obtained a share of the contracts.* 

* There is always a certain deo^ree of artifice even in what 
Fouche allows. Let us however give him credit for having spoken 
truth, as much as it was possible for him to do ; it is not a little to 
have obta ned his avowal of having commenced his fortune by job- 
bing in the contracts. It will be seen likewise, in the course of his 
memoirs,, whence he drew his immense riches at a later period.— 
.Voi e of the Editor. 



28 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

I thus commenced making my fortune after the ex- 
ample of Voltaire, and 1 contributed to that of ni j part- 
ners, who distinguished themselves by the punctuality 
>vith which they fulhljed the clauses of their conliact 
"with the republic. I was myself the director, and in 
this new sphere found myself enabled to assist more 
than once many worthy but neglected patriots. Afiairs, 
however, still grew worse in the interior. The directo- 
ry confounded the mass of the revolutionists with dema- 
gogues and anarchists, and these latter were not pun- 
ished without the former comitig in for their share. 
Public opinion was permitted to take the most errone- 
ous direction. The reins of government were in the 
hands of the republicans; and they had opposed to 
them the passions and prejudices of an impetuous but 
superficial nation, which obstinately persisted in view- 
ing citizens zealous in the cause of liberty, as sanguina- 
ry men and terrorists. The directory itself, carried 
away by the torrent of prejudice, could not continue in 
the prudent track which had hitherto j)reserved and 
strengthened it. The public opinion was daily more 
and more falsified and perverted by servile writers, by 
reviewers in the pay of the emigrants and of foreign 
powers, openly recommending the destruction of the 
new institution: their principal object was to vilily the 
republicans and the heads of the state. By permitting 
itself to be thus disgraced and dishonoured, the directo- 
ry, whose members were divided amongst themselves 
by a spirit of rivalry and ambition, lost all the advanta- 
ges which a representative government nilbrds those 
who have ability enough to direct it. What was the 
consecjuence ? At the very moment our armies were 
every where victorious- — when, masters of the Rhine, 
we were achieving the conquest of Italy in the name of 
the revolution and the republic — the r< publican spirit 
languished in the interior, and the result of the elections 
terminated in favour of the counter-revolutionists and 
the royalists. A great schism becnmc inevitable, as 
soon as the majority of the two councils declared against 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 29 

the majority of the directory. A kind of triumvirate 
had been formed, composed of Barras, Rewbel, and 
ReveilJere Lepaux ; three men inadequate to their du- 
ties in so important a crisis. They at length perceived 
that the only support of their anthoritj was the cannon 
and the bayonet, so that at the risk of arousing the am- 
bition of the generals, they were compelled to call in 
the armies to their assistance; another serious danger, 
but one which, not being so immediate, was the less 
anticipated. It was then that Bonaparte, the conque- 
ror of Lombardy, and the vanquisher of Austria, form- 
ed a club in each division of his army, invited the sol- 
diers to discuss the politics of the day, and represented 
to them the two councils as traitors sold to the enenjies 
of France, and after having made his army swear upon 
the altar of their country, to exterminate the brigands 
moderes, sent abundance of threatening addtesses into 
all the deportments, as well as into the capital. In the 
north, the army did not confine itself to delibei'ation 
and the signing of addresses. Hoche, general-In-chief 
of the army of Sambre-et-Meuse, desj>atched arms and 
ammunition on the road to Paris, and marched his 
troops upon the neighbouring towns. For some seciet 
reasons, this movement was suddenly suspended; either 
because there was not a perfect understanding upon the 
mode of attacking the two councils, or, as I have great 
cause to believe, the object was to procure the conque- 
ror of Italy a more exclusive influence in the direction 
of affairs. It is certain that the interests of Bonaparte 
were at that time represented by Barras in the directo- 
rial triumvirate, and that the gold of Italy flowed like a 
new Pactolus into the Luxembourg. Women took an 
active part in affairs ; they at this time conducted all 
political intrigues. 

On the 4th of September (10th Fructidor), a mili- 
tary movement placed the capital in subjection. This 
bold manoeuvre was executed by Augereau, Bonaparte's 
lieutenant, expressly sent for the purpose. As in all 
convulsions in which the soldiers intermeddle, the toga 



30 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

succumbed beneath the bayonet. Two directors fifty- 
three deputies, and a great number of authors and 
printers of periodical journals who had perverted the 
public opinion, were banished without any form of trial. 
The elections of forty-nine departments were declared 
null, and the administrative authorities Avere suspended 
previous to being re-organized in the spirit of the new 
revolution. 

In this manner the royalists were vanquished and 
dispersed without fighting, by the mere effect of a mili- 
tary demonstration ; in this manner the popular societies 
were re-organizcd ; thus it was that a stop was put to 
the re-action upon the republicans ; and thus the appel- 
lation of republican and patriot was no longer a cause 
for exclusion from employments and honours. As to 
the directory, in which Merlin de Douai and Francois 
de Neufchateau replaced Carnot and Barthelemy, who 
were both included in the number of the exiles, it at 
first acquired some appearance of energy and power ; 
but in reality it was only a fictitious power, incapable of 
resistmg troubles or reverses. 

Thus, the only remedy for evil was violence ; an 
example the more dangerous, as it compromised the 
future. 

Previously to the UUli Fructidor, a day which seemed 
destined to decide the late of the revolution, I had not 
remainud idle. The advice I gave the director Barras, 
my su<2;gcstions, my prophetic conversations, had contri- 
buted in no small degree to impart to the directorial 
triumvirate that watchfulness and stimulus of which its 
^ropings and irresolutions had stood so much in need. 
Was it not natural that an event so favourable to the 
interests of tliC revolution, ought also to turn to the 
advantage of the persons who had founded and pre- 
served it by their intelligence and their energy?* 
Hitherto the path of the patriots had been strewed 

♦ An inviiliiablc confession, explaining' at once the motives of 
every rcvoUuion, past, present, and to coiue. — .Vote of (he Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 31 

with thorns : it was time that the tree of liberty should 
produce fairer fruit for those who were to gather and 
taste it ; it was time that the high employments of the 
state should devolve upon men of superior abilities. 

To conceal nothing, however, we were much embar- 
rassed by the coalition, by the scourge of civil war, and 
by the still more dangerous manoeuvres of the chame- 
leons of the interior. On the other hand, by our 
energy, and the force of circumstances, we were mas- 
ters of the state and of every branch of power. The 
only question now, was the ensuring entire possession 
according to the scale of intellect and capacity. All 
other theory at the conclusion of a revolution is but 
folly, or impudent hypocrisy ; this doctrine finds its 
place in the hearts of those even who dare not avow 
it. As a man of ability, I declared these trivial truths, 
till then regarded as a state secret.* My reasons were 
appreciated ; the application of them alone caused em- 
barrassment. Intrigue did much ; a salutary impulse 
the rest. 

A soft shower of military secretaryships, porte feuilles, 
commissariats, legations, embassies, secret agencies, and 
commanderies of divisions, soon came, like the manna 
from Heaven, to refresh my ancient colleagues, both in 
the civil and military departments. The patriots, so 
long neglected, were now provided for. I was one of 
the first in seniority, and my worth was w^ell known. 
I, however, resolutely refused the subaltern favours 
which were offered me ; I was determined to accept of 
none but an employment of consequence sufficient to 
introduce me at once into the career of the highest 
political affairs. I had the patience to wait ; and indeed 
waited long, but not in vain. This once, Barras over- 
came the prejudices of his colleagues, and I w^as nomi- 
nated, in the month of September, 1798, not without 
many previous conferences, ^"c. Ambassador of the 

* As far as I know, none of the heads of the revolution have ever 
as yet said so much. Fouche is truly open and undisguised in his 
avowals. — Note of the Editor. 



32 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

French Republic to the Cisalpine Republic. It is 
well known, that for this new and analogous creation, 
we were indebted to the victorious arms, and acute 
policy, of Bonaparte. Austria, however, was to be 
indemnified by tiie sacrifice of Venice. 

By the treaty of peace of Campo Formio, (a village 
of Frioul, near Udine,) Austria had ceded the Pays Bas 
to France ; and Milan, Mantua, and Modena, to the 
Cisalpine Republic: she had reserved to herself the 
greatest part of the Venetian states, with the exception 
of the Ionian Isles, which France retained. It was 
easily seen, that this was only a fresh stimulus for us; 
and the revolutionizingj of all Italy was already a sub- 
ject of conversation. In the mean time the treaty of 
Campo Formio served to consolidate the new republic, 
the extent of which ensured its being respected. It 
was composed of Austrian Lombardy, of the Modenese, 
of Massa and Carrara, the BologFiese, the Ferrari, 
Romania, Bergatnasque, Bressan, Cremasquc, and other 
possessions of the Venetian state on the contment. 
Already matured, it demanded its emancipation ; that is 
to sav, that instead of lanffuishino: under the severe 
guardianship of the French directrry, it might live 
under the protection and influence of the great nation. 
In fact, we were more in want ol" valiant and sincere 
allies than of submissive vassals. Such was my opinion, 
and likewise those of the director Barras, and of gene- 
ral Bruno, at that time connnander-in-chief of the army 
of Italy; and who had just removed his head-quarters 
from Berne to Milan. But another director, whose 
system of policy and diplomacy was (.lecidedly opposite, 
insisted that all, both friends and foes, were to be sub- 
jected by power and violence ; this was Rewbel, of 
Colmar, a harsh and vain man; he conceived there 
was much digriity in his view of the subject. He shared 
the weii^ht of important alTairs with his colleague Mer- 
lin de Douai, an excellent jurisconsult, but a very infe- 
rior statesman ; both these gave the law to the direc- 
tory, iur Trcilhaid and Revcillcrc Lcpaux were but 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 33 

novices. If Barras, who remained 'per se, sometimes 
obtained an advantage over them, it was by dexterity, 
and the good opinion they entertained of him ; they 
thought him a man of sufficient nerve to be always 
ready for a coup de main. 

But we had now recovered from the intoxication of 
victory. My initiation into state affairs took place at so 
important a crisis, that it will be necessary to give a 
sketch of its prominent features : especially as it is a 
preliminary absolutely indispensable for the compre- 
hending of what follows. In less than one year, the 
peace of Campo Formio, which had so much deceived 
the credulous, was already sapped to its basis. With- 
out compunction, we had made terrible use of the right 
of the stronger in Helvetia, at Rome, and in the East. 
Not finding kings, we had made war upon the shepherds 
of Switzerland, and had even attacked the Mamelukes. 
It was the expedition into Egypt, in particular, which 
gave the deepest wound. The origin of that expedi- 
tion is sufficiently curious to be noted here. Bonaparte 
held a multifarious government in horror, and despised 
the directory which he called the five kings in routine 
(cinq rois a terme.) Intoxicated with glory upon his 
return from Italy, welcomed with almost frantic joy by 
the French, he meditated seizing upon the supreme 
government ; but his party had not as yet sufficiently 
established itself. He perceived, and I use his own 
expressions, that the pear was not yet ripe. On its side, 
the directory, who feared him, found that the nominal 
command of the English expedition kept him too near 
Paris ; and he himself was not much inclined to seek 
his destruction against the cliffs of Albion. To say the 
truth, it was scarcely known what to do with him. 
Open disgrace would have insulted the public opinion, 
and increased his reputation and his strength. 

An expedient was thus being sought for, when the 
old bishop of Autun, a man distinguished for his shrewd- 
ness and address, and who had just introduced into fo- 
reign affairs the intriguing daughter of Necker, conceiv- 



34 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ed the brilliant Ostracism into Egypt. He first insinu- 
ated the idea to Rewbel, then to MerHn, taking upon 
himself the acquiescence of Barras. His plan was no- 
thing but an old idea which he had found amongst the 
rubbish of the bureau, and which he had furbished up 
for the occasion. It was converted into a state affair. 
The expedient appeared the more fortunate, as it at 
once removed the bold and forward general ; subject- 
ing him, at the same time, to hazardous chance. The 
conqueror of Italy at first entered unhesitatingly, and 
with the greatest ardour, into the idea of an expedition, 
which not only could not fail adding to hi's renown, 
but would also ensure to him distant possessions, which 
he flattered he should govern either as a sultan or a 
prophet. But soon cooling, whether he perceived the 
snare, or whether he still aimed at supreme power, he 
drew back ; but it was in vain for him to struggle, to 
raise obstacle upon obstacle — all were removed ; and 
when he found himself reduced to the alternative of a 
disgrace, or of remaining at the head of an army which 
might revolutionize the East, he deferred his designs 
upon Paris, and set sail with the flower of our troops. 

The expedition commenced with a kind of miracle, 
the sudden taking of Malta, and this was succeeded by 
the fatal catastrophe, of the destruction of our squadron 
in the waters of the Nile. The face of affairs immedi- 
ately changed. England, in its turn, was in the delirium 
of triumph. In conjunction with Russia, she set on foot 
a new general war, of which the government of the 
two Sicilies was the ostensible cause. The torch of 
war was lighted at Palermo and Naples by hatred ; at 
Constantinople by a violation of the rights of peace, 
and of nations. The Turk alone had justice on his 
side. 

So many untoward circumstances coming fast upon 
each other, produced a deep impression upon Paris; it 
seemed that the political horizon again brcame cloudy. 
Open preparations were made for war, and every thmg 
assumed a threatening aspect. The rich had already 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 35: 

been subjected to a forced and progressive loan of for- 
ty-eight millions, with which levies were enabled to be 
raised. From this time maj be dated the idea and es- 
tablishment of the military conscription, an immense le- 
ver which had been borrowed from Austria, perfected 
and proposed to the councils by Jourdan, and immedi- 
ately adopted by the placing in active service two hun- 
dred thousand conscripts. The armies of Italy and 
Germany were reinforced. All the preliminaries of 
war burst forth at once : — insurrection in Escaut and 
the Deux Nethes, at the gates of Malines and Brux- 
elles ; troubles in the Mantuan territory, and at Voghe- 
ra ; Piedmont on the eve of a convulsion ; Geneva and 
Milan torn by the contending factions, and inflamed by 
the republican fever, with which our revolution had ino- 
culated them. 

It was, surrounded by this gloomy prospect, that I 
set forward on my embassy to Milan. I arrived at the 
very moment when General Brune was about to effect, 
in the Cisalpine government, without an essential alte- 
ration, a change of individuals, the key to which change 
was in my possession. The object was, to remove the 
power into the hands of men possessing greater energy 
and firmness, and to commence the emancipation of the 
young republic, in order that it might communicate the 
impulse to the whole of Italy. We premeditated this 
coup de main^ with the hope of forcing into acquiescence 
the majority of the directory, which held its sittings at 
the Luxembourg.* I concerted measures with Brune, 

* Fouche does not give us sufficient information respecting this 
plan of revolutionizing hII in the exterior, a plan at that time dis- 
approved hy the majority of the directory, and of which General 
Augereau was one of the first victims. Commander in-chief of the 
army of Germany, after the 18th Fructidor, he was about to revo- 
lutionize Suabia, when he was recalled and disgraced. Bonaparte 
had part in this, and was furious when they were already desirous 
of demolishing his work, the peace of Campo Formio. After his 
departure for Egypt, Brune and Jouhert will be seen to share the 
disgrace of Augereau, on the same account. This plan, which was 
renewed by the propagandum^ in 1792, appears to have had no oth- 



30 31EM01RS OF FOUCHE. 

1 encouraged the most ardent of the Lftmbardian pa- 
triots, and we decided that the movement should be 
put in execution, and that there should be neither pro- 
scriptions nor violence. On the morning of the 22d of 
October, a raiHtary demonstration was made ; the gates 
of Milan Avere closed ; the directors and the deputies 
were at their posts. There, by the simple impulse of 
opinion, under the protection of the French troops, and 
at the suggestion of the general-in-chief, fifty-two Cisal- 
pine representatives send in their resignations, and are 
replaced by others. At the same time the three di- 
rectors, Adelasio, Luosi, and Soprcnsi, chosen by the 
ex-ambassador, Trouve, and confirmed by the French 
Directory, are likewise invited to resign, and were re- 
placed by three other directors, Brunetti, Sabatti, and 
Sinancini. Citizen Porro, a Lombardian patriot, full of 
zeal and intelligence, was appointed minister of police. 
This repetition of our ISth of Fructidor, so easily ef- 
fected, was confirmed by the primary assemblies ; thus 
we rendered homage to the sovereignty of the people, 
by obtaining its sanction to the measures adopted for 
its welfare. Soprensi, the ex-director, with twenty-two 
deputies, came to place their protests in my hands; all 
my endeavours to obtain their acquiescence to the mea- 
sure were useless. It became necessary to issue an or- 
der for removing Soprensi by force from the apartments 
he occupied at the directorial palace ; and I was com- 
pelled to receive from hira a fresh protest, the purport 
of which was, that he denied the general-in-chief the 
right which he had arrogated over the Cisalpine autho- 

er defender in the directory but Barras : this was but a weak sup- 
port. Itowbel and Mrrlin, would not proceed precipitately in the 
affair; already alarmed at their excesses in Hfjypl and Switzerland, 
they persisted in cradlinc; themselves in a situation which was nei- 
ther that of peace nor war. It must be owned, that the bold at- 
tempt of universal revolulionizintf, which they only dared to at- 
tempt by halves, gave to the revolutionists of France a great pow- 
er of choice in the operations of the campaijniof 17119, which rush- 
ed upon them from within and without. The revolution stopped, 
and assumed a more masculine character. — .'Vote of the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 37 

rities. Here the opposition ended — we surmounted 
every difficulty without noise or violence. It may be 
supposed, that the couriers were not idle ; the ex-de- 
puties, and the malcontents, had recourse to the direc- 
tory of Paris, to which they appealed. 

I, on my part, despatched an accoun! of the changes 
of the 20th of October, dwellmg particularly upon the 
experienced judgment of the general-in-chief, the jus- 
tice of his views, the example which France had itself 
given on the 18th of Fructidor, and the still more re- 
cent one, when the directory found itself under the ne* 
cessity of nullifying the elections ol several departments, 
in order to remove several obnoxious or dangerous de- 
puties. I then launched mto more important consider- 
ations, invoking the terms and the spirit of the alliance 
entered into between the French and Cisalpine repub- 
lics, a treaty approved by the council of ancients on the 
7th of March preceding. In this treaty the new re- 
public was explicitly acknowledged as a free and inde- 
pendent power, upon these conditions onlv, that she 
should take part in all our wars ; that she should set 
on foot all her forces at the requisition of the French 
directory; that she should support twenty-five thousand 
of the French troops, by providing an annual fund of 
ten millions for that object ; and finally, that all her ar- 
maments should be under the command of our generals. 
I guaranteed the strict and faithful execution of this 
treaty, protesting that the government and the welfare 
of this nation would find a more certain pledge, and a 
still firmer support, in the energy and sincerity of the 
men to whom the power had just been entrusted ; final- 
ly, I brought forward my instructions, which authorized 
me to reform without tumult or violence the vices of 
the new Cisalpine government, the excessive and ex- 
pensive numbers of the members of the legislative bo- 
dy, the administrations of the departments, S^c. ; and 
which recommended me to take care that the form of 
the republican government was not oppressive to the 
people. From that I proceeded to guarantee, also, the 



38 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

existence of immense resources; the legislative body of 
Milan having authorized the directory to sell thirty 
millions of nalional domains, in which was included the 
property of the bishops. The despatch of General 
Brune, the general-in-chief, perfectly coincided with 
mine; but all was useless. Pride and vanity, as well as 
the lowest inliigues, and even foreign insinuations were 
opposed to us. Besides, the matter was now to solve 
one of the highest questions of immediate policy, of 
the adoption or rejection of the system of 'he unity of 
Italy divided into republics, effected by the sudden 
overthrow of the old corrupted governments, already 
tottering, and incapable of supporting themselves, a 
system which we do honour to ourselves for having 
made to triumph.* This nervous and decisive policy 
was not to the taste of the warv minister who at that 
time directed our foreign affairs ;t he employed round- 
about means to ruin our plan, and he succeeded. Rew- 
bel and Merlin, whose vanity was brought into play, 
exclaimed loudly against the atfair of Milan; we had 
only on our side the isolated vote of Barras, which was 
soon neutralized. A decree made, a6 irato^ on the 25th 
of October, formally disavowed the changes etTected by 
General Brune. At the same time the directory signi- 
fied to inc its disapprobation, informing me that it would 
have much satisfaction in seeing all the ex-diiectors and 
deputies reinstated in their places. 

1 could easily have exculpated myself in this affair, 
in which I was thought not to have taken a direct part, 
having arrived at my post at the commencement oi the 
preparations, of which, in strictness, I could neither 

* Very well, M. Foiicht. History will take notice of the decla- 
ration of your system ol" 1798. Since you are a man of such veraci- 
ty, you will iloiibtUvss j^ive us fresh proofs that this system, which 
was only modified Inj the force of circumstances^ was perpetuated 
even to 11! 1 5, the period of youi- last coming into power. — Fditor. 

t Here personal designation is unnecessary. The reader has but 
to refer to the almanacs. We ought to respect the discretion of the 
Duke d'Otranto towards one of his ancient colleagues. — Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 3Sf 

know the origin nor object. Such would have been 
the conduct of a man anxious to preserve his situation 
at the expense of his opinion and honour. I adopted 
a more candid and firmer mode of procedure. I pro- 
tested warmlj against the disapprobation of the direc- 
tory ; I pointed out to them the danger of retrograd- 
ing ; besides, the will of the people had been declared 
in the primary assemblies, so that it was impossible to 
undo what had been done, without the risk of being 
guilty of the most blameable frivolity and inconsistency, 
I also insisted how impolitic it would be to displease the 
Cisalpine patriots, and to risk exasperating that republic 
at the very moment when the hostilities, on the eve of 
commencing against Naples, could not fail being the^ 
prelude to a general war. I announced to them that 
thirty thousand Austrians were assembling on the 
Adige ; but I was preaching to the winds. Brune, up- 
on receiving the decree of the directory v^hich annulled 
the depositions made on the 20th of October, received 
instructions to leave the army of Italy, and to proceed 
to command in Holland He was fortunately replaced 
by the brave, modest, and honourable Joubert, particu- 
larly qualified to calm and repair all. Milan was in a 
state of fermentation, and the two rival factions found 
themselves again opposed to each other; the one full 
of hope at being re-established, and the other resolved 
to make a firm stand; when a new decree from the di- 
rectory reached me, bearing date the 7th of November. 
It refused to acknowledge the will of the people, and 
ordered me to break off all relations with the Cisalpine 
directory till that authority had been re-organized such 
as it was previous to the 20th of October. The direc- 
tory likewise ordered a new convocation of the prima- 
ry assemblies : I was much hurt at this contempt of the 
republican principles, upon which my first proceedings 
had been founded. The servile, vexatious system by 
which a republic, our ally, was to be governed, appear- 
ed to me the height of imbecility. In the midst of the 
serious circumstances in which the Italian peninsula was 



40 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

about to be placed, it was nothing less than degrading 
men and reducing them to the situation of mere ma- 
chines ; it was besides diametrically opposite to the 
stipulations and the spirit of tlie treaty of alliance. I 
explained myself; 1 did more, I, in some degree, vindi- 
cated the majesty of the two nations, by addressing to 
the Cisalpine directory a message, of which the follow- 
ing are the principal heads: — 

" Vain, citizen directors, is the attempt to infer that 
your political existence is transitory, because it has been 
accompanied by an act justly disapproved of, and 
strongly condemned, by my government. (Here a pal- 
liative was necessary.) Your fellow-citizens, by giving 
it their sanction in your primary assemblies, have given 
you a moral power for which you will henceforth be- 
come responsible to the Cisalpine people. 

" Proud ty, then, assert its independence, and your 
own; hold with firmness the reins of government which 
are intrusted to you, without being embarrassed by the 
perfidious suggestions of calumny ; make your authority 
respected by a powerful and weli-or2;anized police; op- 
pose the malignity of the pas5l(Mis by displaying a majes- 
ty of character, and confound all the machinations of 
your enemies by an inflexible justice. 

" We are always desirous of giving peace to the 
world ; but if vanity and the thirst of blood cause arms 
to 1)0 wielded against your independence — woe to the 
traitors! Their dust shall be spurned by the feet of 
frcenen. 

"Citizen directors! elevate your minds with events; 
be superior to them if vou wish to command them ; be 
not uneasy about the future; the solidity of republics 
consists in the nature of things ; victory and liberty 
shall pervade the world. 

"Temper the ardent activity of your fellow-citizens, 
in order to render it productive . . . Let them learn 
that energy is not dolirium, and that to be free, is not to 
l)c licensed to do evil." 

Rut the Italian character was little capable of apprc- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ^\. 

elating these precepts. I every where sought for a 
firmness tempered by constancy, and, with few excep- 
tions, I found nothing but wavering and pusillanimous 
hearts. 

Enraged at such language, addressed to the Cisalpine 
republic, our routine sovereigns {souverains a ierme) sit- 
ting in the Luxembourg, despatched, in all haste to 
Milan, the citizen Rivaud, in quality of commissioner- 
extraordinary ; he was the bearer of a decree, ordering 
me to quit Italy. I paid no attention to it, persuaded 
that the directory had not the right to prevent me liv- 
ing as a private individual at Milan. A sympathetic 
conformity of opinions and ideas with Joubert, who had 
replaced Brune in his command, induced me to remain 
there to await the events which were in preparation. 
He was, without doubt, the most intrepid, the most 
able, and the most estimable of all Bonaparte's lieute- 
nants ; since the peace of Campo Formio he had fa- 
voured the popular cause in Holland ; he came into 
Italy, resolved, notwithstanding the false policy of the 
directory, to follow his own inclination, and to satisfy 
the wishes of the people, who anxiously desired liber- 
ty. I strongly urged him not to commit himself on my 
account, but to temporize. The commissary Rivaud, 
not daring to undertake any thing while I I'emained at 
Milan, informed the committee-men of the Luxembourg 
of his situation, and the next courier was the bearer of 
some thundering despatches. 

The military authority was compelled to act, whether 
willingly or not. In the night of the 7 — 8th of Decem- 
ber, the guard of the directory, and of the legislative 
body, was disarmed and replaced by French troops. 
The people were not allowed to enter the place where 
the directory and the two councils assembled. A se- 
cret committee was held during the night ; and on its 
breaking up, the new functionaries were displaced to 
make way for the former ones. Seals were placed 
upon the doors of the constitutional circle, and the com- 
missioner Rivaud ordered several arrests. I think that 
6 



42 MrMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

I rajself should have been arrested, Ironed, and passed 
from brigade to brigade up to Paris, had not Joubert 
apprized me in time. I secreted myself in a country 
house, near Monza, where I immedialely received the 
proclamation, addressed bv cijizen Rivaud to the Cisal- 
pine republic. In this disgraceful memento. of polilica! 
absurdity, the irregularity and violence of the proceed- 
ini;s of the 20th of Noveuiber were alleged, and con- 
demned on account of their having been promoted by 
the military power; a most ridiculous accusation, since 
it equally condenmed the I8th Fructidc-r, and the late, 
and humiliating, scene at Milan, performed by orders 
from Paris, without any mvestia^ation. 

This parrot of a commissioner, in enigmatical terms, 
faxed Biune and myself with being innovators and re- 
formers, without character or mission; in short, he de- 
scribed the excess of our patriotism, which, said he, 
caused the popular government to be calumniated. 

All this was truly pitiable, from its bad reasoning. 
Being informed that 1 had disappeared, and thinking 
that 1 was concealed in Milan, the directory again des- 
patched an extraordinary courier, the bearer of a fresh 
order for my ex[)ulsion from Italy. " If you are aware,'* 
ivrote immediately poor Rivaud to the Cisalpine direc- 
tory, "that citizen Fouche is on your territory, I beg 
you will give me information accordingly." I smiled at 
his perplexity, and at the alarms of both directories ; 
then quitting my retreat, calmly took the road to the 
Alps, which I crossed. I arrived at Paris in the begin- 
ning of January, 1799. The credit and influence of 
Rewbel and Merlin were already considerably on the 
decline. Intrigues were being formed against them in 
both councils, and they began to lower their lofty tone. 
Therefore, instead of calling me to their bar, and mak- 
ing me give an account of my conduct, they contented 
themselves with announcing in their official journal, that 
I had returned from my mission to the Cisalpine repub- 
lic. 

I now thought myself gufliciently strong to call them 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE 43 

to an account for their vindictive proceedings towards 
me ; and insisted upon indemnities for the loss of my 
employments, which I received, accompanied with an 
earnest entreaty not to give rise to any scandal. 

These details, upon my first failure in an important 
political mission, appeared to me necessary to be known, 
lor the better understanding of the state of the public 
mind at this period, and the ground upon which my first 
operations were to commence. I had, besides, already 
penned this expose by desire of Bonaparte on the eve 
of his departure for Marengo; and I own that, upon 
re-perusing it, recollections were brought to mind which 
gave me no small degree of satisfaction. 

I found the directorial authority shaken, less by the 
public disasters than by the underhand machinations of 
discontented factions ; who, without throwing off the 
mask, carried on their attacks in secret. 

The public testified itself generally disgusted with 
the narrow and paltry spirit which actuated our five 
routine kings ; people were indignant that their au- 
thority was only made known by exactions, injustice, 
and incapacity. By rousing the dormant passions they 
provoked resistance, A few confidential conversations 
with men who either possessed influence, or exercised 
their powers of observation, and my own reflections, 
enabled me to form a right judgment of the state of 
thinofs. 

Every thing announced important events and an ap- 
proaching crisis. The Russians advanced, and prepar- 
ed to enter the lists. Note after note was despatciied 
to Austria, to endeavour to stop their progress ; at 
length, towards the end of February, the war signal 
was sounded, without our being in a state to enter the 
field. The directory had provoked this second coali- 
tion, merely by depriving itself of its best generals. Not 
only Bonaparte was an exile in the sands of Africa — 
not only Hoche, escaped from the Irish expedition, had 
ended his days by poison— but Pichegru was banished 
to Sinnamary, Moreau was in disgrace, and Bernadotte^ 



44 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

who had retired from the diplomacy after the failure 
of his embassy to Vienna, had resigned his command of 
the army of observation ; even tlie removal of Chara- 
pionnet was decreed, for having wished to put a stop to 
the rapacity of the agents of the directory. In short, 
Joubert himself, the brave and virtuous Joubert, had 
received his dismissal on account of" his desire of esta- 
blishing in Italy a wholesome liberty, which would have 
drawn still closer together the ties that united the two 
nations, whose destinies appeared to be the same. 

This second continental war, of which Switzerland, 
Italy, and Egypt, had only seen the prelude, commen- 
ced on the 1st of March ; and bv the 20th Jourdan had 
lost the battle of Stockach, which forced him to repass 
the Rhine in the greatest precipitation: this gloomy 
omen was soon followed by the breaking up of the Con- 
gress of Rastadt, a political drama, the last act of which 
was full of horrors. We were not more fortunate in 
Italy than in Germany: Schcerer, RewbePs favourite 
general, lost three battles on the Adige ; these depriv- 
ed us in a few days of the liberty of Italy, together 
with the conquests which had cost us three laborious 
campaigns. Till then we had either Invaded or resist- 
ed with firmness : the elFcct produced by the intelli- 
gence that we were retreating on all sides must be im- 
agined ; it exceeds description! Every revolutionary 
government, which can only make malcontents, but can- 
not command victory, necessarily loses its power : upon 
the first reverses all the ambitious assume an hostile at- 
titude. 

I was present at several meetings of the discontent- 
ed deputies and generals, and I concluded that, m reali- 
ty, these parties had not all the same intentions, but 
that they re-united for the common pur[)ose of over- 
turning the directory, that each might be enabled to 
further his own ambitious views. 1 set Barras right 
upon this subjcrf, and persuaded him to elfcct, at any 
cost, the expulsion of KcwbrI, being very sure that wc 
should afterwards gain over Trcilhard, Merlin, and Re- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 45 

velllere, on our own terms. These two last were par- 
ticularly disliked, from having favoured the system of 
the electoral schisnis, the object of which was to clear 
the legislative councils of the most ardent republicans. 
I was aw^are that Joseph and Lucien, Bonaparte's bro- 
thers, intrusted by him to watch over his interests du- 
ring his warlike exile, were manoeuvring with the same 
intentions. Lucien displayed an exalted patriotism; 
he was at the head of a party of disaiFected with Bou- 
lay de la Meurthe. Joseph, on his side, lived at a great 
expense, and kept a magnificent establishment. His 
house was the rendezvous for the most powerful depu- 
ties of the councils', the highest functionaries, the most 
distinguished of the generals, and the women most fer- 
tile in expedients and intrigue. 

The coalition being formed, Rewbel, disconcerted 
and abandoned by Merlin, to whom he was represented 
as the scape-goat, thorght himself extremely foitunate 
in obtaining his expulsion, disguised by the chance of 
the dice, on the principal condition that his retreat in 
the council of ancients should be respected. 

But who was to fill his place in the directory ? Mer- 
lin, and the other overgrown deputies, his creature?, 
determined upon appointing in his stead Duval, of the 
Seine Inferieure, a man of mediocre talents, and with- 
out influence, in other respects a worthy person ; he at 
that time filled the office of minister of police, but was 
too short-sighted for his post. They were permitted to 
go on quietly, and all their measures being taken, every 
effort was made for Sieyes, the ambassador at Berlin, 
whose hidden abilities had been the theme of praise 
for the last ten years. I knew him to possess some 
strong and decided revolutionary opinions, but I also 
knew that his character was mistrustful and artificial ; I 
also believed he cherished sentiments but little compa- 
tible with the basis of our liberties and institutions. I 
was not his partizan; but I associated myself with tie 
faction so suddenly formed in his favour, without my 
beinsf able to coniecture from what motive. It was 



46 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

urfi^ed that it was necessary to have at the head of af- 
fairs, upon the commencement of a threatening coalition, 
a man who of all others knew how to keep Prussia in 
a neutrality so advantageous to her ; it was even assert- 
ed that he had shown himself an experienced politician, 
by giving the first hints of the coalition. The election 
commenced: 1 still smile when I recollect the disap- 
pointment of the subtle Merlin and the worthy Duva! 
his creature, who, whilst the council were proceeding 
in the election, having established a telegraphic line of 
agents from the Hotel de Police to the Legislative 
Hall, whose duty it was to transmit intelligence to the 
happy candidate, learnt that a party of the ventre had 
deserted. Neither Merlin nor Duval could possibly 
comprehend how a certain majority cculd be suddenly 
transformed into a minority. lu\i* we, who knew the 
secret spring, often amused ourselves with the affair at 
excellent dinners, in which politics were discussed. 

Merlin saw in Sieyes a dangerous competitor, and 
from that moment looked upon him with an evil eye. 
As to the worthy Duval, being soon replaced by Bour- 
gulgnon, he became misanthropical. These two me- 
-diocre citizens were neither of them fitted to direct the 
police.* The work was as yet only in embryo. In 
order to bring it to perlection two legislative coalitions 
were formed. In one were Boulay de la Meurthe, 
Chenier, Fran^ais de Nantes, Clialmel, Texier-Olivier, 
Berber, Baudin des Ardennes, Cabanis, Regnier, the 
two Bonapartcs ; in the other Berlrand du Calvados, 
Poulain-G rand pre, Destrem, Garrau, Arena, Salicetti, 
and several other vigorous athleta?. In both these, 
which had their auxiliaries without, I gained over seve- 
ral to Barras, while he on his side manccuvrcd tolera- 
blv well. Undcrlinnd means were the onlv ones that 
could he einploved at first : the time for tiirowing off 
the mask was not yet come. 

* A IKtlo vanity of Foiichc's, who prepares every thing in the 
style of a molodrarne, in orclrr to introduce himself upon the s(ai;^e 
jis alone capahlo of <fiii(Iinij the police lielm, of tnrnine;^ to (he best 
advantage his dark intrigues aud fertile expedients. — Ldiior. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 47 

In this respect our reverses served us admirably ; 
they were inevitable. Could one hundred and sixty 
thousand men, exhausted and worn out with fatigue, 
dispirited by repeated defeats, and commanded by 
generals always liable to be disgraced, make head 
against more than three hundred thousand enemies 
seconded, in Italy, and Germany, by the people, and 
brought, either by the ardour of victory, or the desire 
of vengeance, upon the frontiers even of the republic? 

The dissatisfaction with the majority of the direc- 
tory soon became general : " It has only," as was 
observed, "displayed its authority, in oppression, in- 
justice, and incapacity ; instead of signalizing its dicta- 
torship by some brilliant action, since the 18th Fruc- 
tidor, it has but abused its immense power; it has 
ruined our finances, and dug the abyss which now 
threatens to engulf the republic." 

It was now only in the councils that the directory 
could still find defenders amongst the creatures in its 
interest, and its unskilful apologists. The exasperation 
was at its height, when Ballleul wrote in a pamphlet 
that he feared more the Russians in the legislative 
body than the Russians approaching the frontiers. 

A concerted message, addressed to the directory 
requiring information upon the exterior and interior 
situation of the republic, became the signal for battle. 
It was at the moment when Sleyes, the new director, 
had just been installed. No answer arriving from the 
Luxembourg, the councils on the 18th of June (28th 
Prairlal) declared their sittings permanent. On its side, 
the directory adopted the same resolution by way of 
reprisal ; but it was already incapable of parrying the 
blows about to be aimed at its existence. 

It was first deprived of the right of restraining the 
liberty of the press. The expression of opinion being 
no longer compromised, it was no longer possible for the 
lawyers to defend the field. Consequently scarcely 
was the appointment of Treilhard contested and re- 
voked, than Treilhard retired without opening his lips. 



48 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Merlin and Revelllere, however, were obstinate, and 
endeavoured to maintain themselves in the directorial 
cliairs. Baulay dc la Meurthe, and the deputies of Ills 
faction, proceeded to the Luxembourg to demand im- 
periously the dismission of the two directors. At the 
same time Bertrand du Calvades, in the name of a 
commission of eleven, of which Lucien was one, as- 
cended the tribune, and found means to alarm the 
directors bj the preface of their act of accusation. 
'• I will not speak to you," cried he, " of your Raj)inats, 
your Ivauds, your Trouves, and your Fay poults, who, 
not satisfied with exasperating our allies by injuries of 
every kind, have violated by your orders tiie rights of 
nations, have proscribed republicans, or have arbitrarily 
displaced them to make way for traitors!" I was not 
ignorant of this sally, in which was implied an indu'ect 
approbation of my conduct, and a tacit condemnation of 
that pursued by the directory with respect to me. 

At length, on the 30th Prairial, (18th June) Merlin 
and Reveillcre, upon a solemn assurance that they 
should not be impeached, sent in their resignation, and 
Sieves became master of the field of battle. At that 
very instant the whole strength gf the revolution rallied 
round Sieves and Barras. 

In peifcct understanding with the head of the coun- 
cils, they used every means to prevent the admission of 
any into the Luxembourg for their colleagues, in place 
of the expelled directors, but such men as Roger Duces, 
Moulins, and Gohier, who were incapable of throwing 
them in the back-ground by their a])ililics, or the 
strength of their character. This arrangement tended 
greatly to make them masters of alTairs, Roger Duces 
being associated in vote and intei'est with Sieves. 

The first-fruit of the triumj)h o( {\\c councils over 
the directory was the ap|jointment of Joubert to the 
command of Paris, an a|)pointment obtained from Sieyes 
!)V Barras, and to which 1 also was not a stranger. 
A few days afterwards 1 was appointed to the embassy 
of J^olland : this was a species of rejiaration which the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 49 

new directory owed me. I went to take leave of 
Siejes ; he told me that till then government had been 
directed by chance, without end and without fixed prin- 
ciples, and that it should not be so for the future ; 
he expressed some uneasiness respecting the new flight 
of anarchical spirit, with which, said he, it is impos- 
sible ever to govern. I answered that it was time this 
aimless and irregular democracy should give place to a 
republican aristrocracy, or government of men of wis- 
dom and experience, the only one which could establish 
and consolidate itself " Yes, doubtless," replied he, 
" and if that were possible, you should have it ; but 
how distant are we still from so desirable an object !" 
I then spoke to him of Joubert, as a pure and disinte- 
rested general, whom I had an opportunity of being 
well acquainted with in Italy, and to whom might be 
safely intrusted, in case of need, a powerful influence ; 
nothing was to be feared either from his ambition or 
his sword, which he would never turn against the liberty 
of his country. Sieyes having attentively heard me to 
the conclusion, only replied by a Oest bien ! I could 
discover nothing else in his side glance. 
> It is clear that I did not succeed in my intention of 
sounding him and drawing out his confidence. I knew, 
however, that a short time before he had had a very 
significant conversation with one of M. Talleyrand's 
friends, who has since been made a senator ; that he 
owned to him that the revolution wandered without 
any object in performing a vicious circle ; and that no 
stability or safety could be found but by help of another 
social organization, which would present us with a coun- 
terpart of the English revolution of 1688 ; adding, 
that in that country, for more than a century, liberty 
and royalty were united together without satiety and 
without divorce. The objection was started, that there 
was no longer a William. " That is true," he replied, 
" but there are in the north of Germany wise princes, 
warriors, philosophers, who govern their little princi- 
pality as paternally as Leopold governed Tuscany." 
7 



50 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Finding that he alluded to the Duke of Brunswick, the 
manifesto of 1792 was mentioned. " He is not the 
author of that cursed manifesto," replied he, with much 
warmth, " and it would be easy to prove that he 
himself advised the retreat from Champagne, refusing 
to deliver up France to fire and bloodshed, and to fight 
for the emigrants." " We must not, however," con- 
tinued Sieyes, " think of the son of the cowardly E^alite ; 
not only he has not head-piece sufficient, but it is cer- 
tain that he has become reconciled with the pretender ; 
he would not dare to take a single step by himself. 
Among our generals, I do not see one* who is capable 
of, or adequate to, placing himself at the head of a 
coalition of determined spirits to extricate us from the 
bog in which we are at present knee-deep, for it cannot 
be dissembled that our power and constitution arc 
crumbling into ruin on all sides." This conversation 
required no commentary ; I knew also that Sieyes had 
held, upon our interior situation, nearly the same lan- 
guage to Barras. These glimmerings were sufficient to 
let me into his views, and to form my opinion respecting 
his ultimate intentions. 

There is no doubt he already indulged the project of 
favouring us with a social compact of his own fashion. 
The haughty priest had been for a long time preyed 
on by this ambition of raising himself to be the sole 
legislator. I set off with the firm persuasion that he 
had succeeded in making his views agreeable to some 
men of influence, such as Daunou, Cubanis, Chunier 
Garat, and the greater part of the members of the 
council of the ancients ; who, hurried on since that, 
went beyond the goal at which they were to stop. 
Such was the germ of the revolution which shortly be- 
gan to be preparetl, and without which France would 
inevitably have fallen prostrate in the convulsions of 
anarchy, or under the repeated blows of the Europcaii 
coalition. 

I had scarcely time to go and present my credentials 
at the Hague, where I rej)laccd Lombard de Langrcs, 



j^'>^^ rp*"^^^, 




/ MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

a kind of affected author, but in other respects a wor- 
thy man. I found this other young repubHc divided in 
its authorities into firm and weak men; into aristocrats 
and democrats, as everywhere else. I convinced my- 
self that the Orange, or English, party would never 
have influence upon the destinies of the country, so long 
as our armies were capable of protecting Holland. 
There I ag«iii met with Brune, who kept our troops 
firm in their obedience, by shutting his eyes to the car- 
rying on of a contraband trade, indispensable to prevent '^ ^ 
the ruin of the country. I let him dp as he pleased; "^^ 
we could not faij, of being on perfectly good terms ; like 
me, he found himself sufEciently avenged by tiii^ over- J 
throw of the ill-conducted governments whicji had / 
injured and expatriated us so 7ncil'^itpTopos, 

Nothing, however, Avas as yet fixed at Paris. The 
greatest instability prevailed, and it was to be appre- 
hended that the triumph of the councils over the exe- 
cutive power an'ght end by enervating and disorganiz- 
ing the government. It was, above all, to be feared, 
that the anarchists, by abusing the consequences of the 
late revolution, might wash to overturn every thing, in 
order to seize a power which they were incapable of 
directing. They relied upon Bernadotte, whom they 
had appointed to be minister of the war department, 
and whose ambition and character did not sympathize 
with the views of Sieyes and bis party. 

Fortunately, the faction of Bonaparte directed by his 
two brothers, and having for council Rcederer, Boulay 
de la Meurthe, and Regnier, coincided in viewing the ne- 
cessity of arresting the flight of the legislative movement. 
Lucien took upon him to speak from the tribune. Bj 
proposing some line of demarcation for the future, he 
drew round his own party the old directors and their 
followers, who were fearful of being called to an ac- 
count. The danger was pressing; the ultra party de- 
manded the impeachment of the ex-directors, a mea- 
sure which would bring to light or unveil every mal- 
versation. 



52 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

A strong opposition, therefore, immediately arose, in 
a portion of those deputies even who had concurred in 
overthrowing the majority of the directory, but merely 
in order to change the system of the government, and" 
to get it into their own hands. They alleged in favour 
of the accused, that people were liable to make mistakes 
in politics, to adopt false theories, and be unsuccessful ; 
that they might even yield to the intoxication which is 
attendant upon great power, and in that be more un- 
fortunate than criminal. They above all invoked the 
promise, or rather the moral promise given and receiv- 
ed, that no measure should be adopted against the ex- 
directors if they made a voluntary resignation ; and, 
finally, they recalled to remembrance that the councils 
had more than once sanctioned by their plaudits the 
expedition into Egypt, and the declaration of war against 
the Swiss ; the objects of so much declamation. This 
impeachment, besides, would have revealed too much, 
and this Barras wished to avoid ; it Avould also, in other 
respects, have had consequences injurious to power ab- 
stractedly considered, and this Sieyes considered as im- 
politic. These discussions were protracted with the 
view of occupying the public attention till other inci- 
dents, and the march of events, might operate a diver- 
sion.* But how was it possible to stop at one and the 
same time the abuses of the press, which began to de- 
generate into licentiousness, and the contagion of the 
popular clubs which had every where been re-opened? 
Could Sieyes, at the head of his phalanx, composed of 
some forty philosophers, metaphysicians, and deputies 
without any energy than that stinuilnted by worldly in- 
terest, flatter himself with being able to overthrow 
anarchy, and erect a superstructure of social order with- 
out foundations ? His coalition Avith Barras was preca- 
rious; in the (ju'ectory he could only calculate u[)on 
Roger Duces; with regard to Moulins and Gohier, his 

* All this is very cle:ir, nnd wo know no other production wliich 
Uirofvs so much light upon the intrigues of this period. — Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 53 

only guarantee for them, was their extreme sincerity, 
and their limited political views. Men so insignificant 
might, at the critical moment, become the instruments 
of an enterprising faction. The ascendancy which 
Sieyes exercised in the directory might be diminished, 
or even turned against him by mistrust. 

But when, indeed, he saw that it was in his power to 
strengthen himself by means of .Joubert, invested with 
the command of Paris, and Avhose inclinations were 
about to be gained over by a marriage into which he 
allowed hiniself to be entrapped, Sieyes resolved to 
make him the pivot of his reforming coalition. In con*- 
sequence, the chief command of the army of Italy was 
given him, in the hope that he would bring back victo- 
ry to our standards; and thus acquire a quantum of 
glory sufficient for the elevation of the part allotted to 
him. 

This arranged, Sieyes perceived that he wanted the 
instrumentality of a firm and active police. The po- 
lice, as it was then constituted, naturally favoured the 
popular party, which had introduced into its body seve- 
ral of its creatures and of its leaders. The worthy 
Bourguignon, the then minister, owed his elevation to 
Gohier; but was entirely inadequate to such an office, 
beset with so many difficulties. This was felt; and at 
the very moment when I had just drawn up for Barras 
a memoir upon the situation of the interior, in which 1 
treated in its fullest extent the question of general po- 
lice, Barras himself joined with Sieyes in order to dis- 
miss Bourguignon ; and afterwards with Gohier and 
Moulin, for the purpose of removing Alquier, Sieyes' 
candidate, and of calling me into office. I willingly ex- 
changed my embassy for the direction of the police, al- 
though the ground on which I trod appeared slippery. 
I lost no time in taking possession of my post ; and on 
the 1st of August I was installed. 

The crown was lost in 1789, from the mere incapaci- 
ty of the high police, the directors of it at that time 
not being able to penetrate the conspiracies and plots 



54 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

which threatened royalty. The first pledge for the 
safety of any. government whatever is a vigilant police, 
under the direction of firm and enlightened ministers. 
The difficulties of the high police are immense, whether 
it has to operate in the combinations of a representative 
government, so incompatible with whatever is the least 
arbitrary and that leaves to the factious legal arms 
with which to execuUB their projects; or whether it 
acts in behalf of a more concentrated form of govern- 
ment, aristocratical, directorial, or despotic. In the lat- 
ter case, the task is the more difficult, for nothing 
transpires from without : it is in obscurity and mystery 
that traces must be discovered which only present 
themselves to inquiring and penetrating glances. I 
found myself in the former case, with the double duty 
of discovering and dissolving the coalitions and legal 
oppositions against the established power, as well as the 
dark, plots of royalists and foreign agents. The danger 
from these last was far less immediate. 

I raised myself mentally above my functions, and felt 
not the least fear at their importance. In two hours I 
fully understood all my oflicial powers. I did not, 
however, fatigue myself with considering the ministry- 
intrusted to me in its minor details of arrangement. 
As things were situated, I felt that all the powers and 
abilities of a minister must be absorbed in the high 
police ; the rest might safely be left to the chefs de 
burenu. iVJy only study was, therefore, to seize with a 
steady and sure hand all the springs of the secret 
police, and all tlie elements composing it. I first 
insisted that, for these essential reasons, the local 
police of Paris, called the bureau central (the prefec- 
ture did not then exist,) should be placed entirely under 
my control. I found all the constituent elements in the 
most deplorable state of confusion and decay. The 
treasury was empty, and without money, no police. 
I had soon money at my command, by making the vice 
inherent in this great city contribute to the salcty of 
the stale. My iirst act was to put a stop to a tendency 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 55 

to insubordination, in which some of the chefs de bureau 
belonging to active factions indulged themselves ; but 
I judged it necessary not to introduce hasty reforms or 
ameliorations in the details. I restricted myself, simply, 
to concentrating the high police within my own cabinet, 
with the assistance of an intimate and faithful secre- 
tary. I felt that I alone should be judge of the politi- 
cal state of the interior, and that spies and secret agents 
should only be considered as indications and instruments 
often doubtful : in a word, I felt that the high police 
was not administered by memorials and long reports ; 
that there were means lar more eificacious; for exam- 
ple, that the minister himself should place himself in 
contact with the men of greatest influence, over all 
opinions and doctrines, and over the superior classes of 
society. This system never failed me, and ] was better 
acquainted with France, veiled in mystery by means of 
oral and confidential communications, and by widely- 
grasping conversations, than by the heaps of written 
rubbish which continually passed under my eyes. Thus, 
nothing essential to the safety of the state ever escaped 
me, as will be proved in the sequel. 

These preliminaries being settled, I informed myself 
of the political state of the interior, a kind of exami- 
nation which I had already prepared in my mind. 
I had scrutinized every vice, and probed every wound 
of the social compact of the year iir., by which we were 
governed ; and, to speak sincerely, I considered that 
compact incapable of being executed constitutionally. 
The two shocks it had sustained on the 18th Fructidor, 
and the 30th Prairial, in a contrary sense, changed the 
assertion into a positive fact. From a government 
purely constitutional, the nation had passed under the 
dictatorship of five men; this did not succeed. Now 
that the executive power was mutilated and weakened 
in its very essence, every thing indicated that the des- 
potism of a few would be changed into a popular deli- 
rium, unless a strong barrier could be opportunely 
raised. I knew also that the man who had obtained 



56 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the greatest influence, Sieyes, had from the commenGe- 
nient regarded this political establishment as absurd, 
and that he had even refused to direct the helm. If 
he had now surmounted his repugnance, it was because 
the opportunity of substituting a more reasonable organ- 
ization appeared to have arrived ; he could not demolish 
the bastions, without approaching the fortress itself. 
I explained myself to Barras, who, as much as I, mis- 
trusted the sinuous policy of Sieyes. But he had cer- 
tain engagements with him, and, moreover, dreaded on 
his own account the exaggerations and encroachments 
of the popular party. This party had the upper hand 
of him, but only from political considerations, and with 
the hopes of opposing Sieyes, who was beginning to 
throw o(f the mask. In the eyes of the republicans, 
Barras was considered as an old worn-out director, with 
whom the preservation of the public weal was incom- 
patible. On one side he found himself pressed by the 
club of the Maneofc, which, assuminor the tone and atti- 
tude of the Jacobins, declaimed against dilapidators 
and public robbers ; and on the other, by Sieyes, who, 
taking advantage of some degree of influence, had some 
ultimate views which he did not care to intrust in con- 
fidence to Barras. 

Sieyes liad no doubt already prepared a constitution 
to his own taste, which should restrain and counterpoise 
power, according as events should developc themselves; 
his coalition was complete, and he thought himself cer- 
tain of the co-operation of Joubert. A letter from this 
general shewed me his real intentions; he cherished the 
noble hope of returning, strengthened by the ascen- 
dancy of victory, to conciliate all parties. Sieyes had 
been heard to say, " Nothing can be accomplished with 
fools and drivellers: we only want two things, a head- 
piece, and a sword." 1 was in great hopes that the 
sword upon which he so much relied would not place 
itself entirely at his discretion. 

Altliough his position was critical, tcmporizine^ with 
Barras, and not being able to rely cither upon Gohicr 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 57 

or Moulins, who were both attached to the estabhshed 
order of things, he could, however, still rely upon his 
colleagues in their acquiescence to measures necessary 
to oppose the new legislative encroachments, and the 
attempts of the anarchists. Sieyes had, in the council 
of ancients, an organized band. It became necessary 
to assure himself of a numerical majority in the coun- 
cil of five hundred, in which the ardent and ultra party 
fixed their head-quarters. The union of the directo- 
rials and politicals sufficed to keep it in check. Sure 
of the majority, the directory determined to make trial 
of their strength. As minister of police, in the state of 
affairs, 1 had only to manoeuvre with dexterity and 
promptitude upon this line of operations. The first 
step was to render any dangerous coalition against the 
executive government totally impossible. I took upon 
myself to arrest the licentiousness of the public journals, 
and the bold march of the political societies which arose 
from their ashes. Such was the first proposition which 
I made to the directory, in full sitting, after an explana- 
tory report which Barras had concerted with Sieyes. 
A carte-blanche was granted me, and I resolved to sup- 
press the clubs first. 

I began by a kind of proclamation, or circular, in 
which I declared that I had just taken upon myself the 
duty of watching for all, and over all, in order to re- 
establish the tranquillity of the interior, and to put an 
end to the massacres. This last assurance, and the 
word which ended it, displeased the demagogues, who 
had flattered themselves with finding me accommodat- 
ing. It was still worse when, on the 18th Thermidor 
(5th August,) four days after my entrance into office, 
the directory transmitted to the council of ancients, 
who sent it to the council of five hundred, my report 
upon the political societies. This was my avowed 
production. In this report, which was guarded in its 
expressions, for fear of irritating republican suscepti- 
bility, I began by establishing the necessity of protect- 
ing the interior discussions of the clubs, by coercing 
8 



i)S MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

them exteriorly with all the power of the republic; 
then adding, that the first steps of these societies had 
been attempts against the constitution, I concluded by 
praying for measures which should compel them to 
re-enter the constitutional boundaries. 

The sensation which the communication of this re- 
port produced in the chamber was very strong. Two 
deputies (who, 1 believe, were Delbrel and Cleman- 
ceau) considered this mode of transmission, on the part 
of the council of ancients, a: an incipient blow to the 
constitution. The deputy Grandmaison, after having 
applied the terms Jalse and calumnious to my report, 
said it was the signal of a new re-action against the 
most ardent supporters of the republic. A very warm 
discussion then took place, whether the report should 
be printed, — a discussion which produced some animat- 
ed observations from Briot and Garrau, who demanded 
it might be put to the vote ; this did not take place, 
and the printing of the report was not ordered. Thus, 
to speak the truth, in this first skirmish, the battle was 
a drawn one ; but I experienced a disadvantage: not 
one voice was raised in my favour, which led me to ob- 
serve, how little reason there is, in a revolution, for re- 
lying upon cold and calculating spirits, whatever may 
have been the bait with which they were allured. 
They afterwards give you good reasons for justifying 
their silence ; but the only true one is the fear of com- 
mitting themselves. The same day I was attacked with 
still greater violence in the society of the Manlge. 

I was neither disconcerted nor alarmed by this dis- 
couraging debut. To have flinched, would have been 
to work my own destruction, and abandon fortune in 
the road she opened to me. I resolved to manceuvre 
skilfully in the midst of kindling passions and of inter- 
ests which clashed without the least disguise. Sieyes, 
finding that the directory was not firm, and that Barras 
did not keep j)ace with his wishes, ordered the commis- 
sioner of inspectors of the council of ancient?, who were 
sitting at the Tuilleries. to close the hall of the manege. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 5U 

This stroke of authority caused a sensation. I thought 
Sieyes certain of his object, — and still more so when, at 
the commemoration of the 10th of August, which was 
held with much pomp in the Champ de Mars, he made 
in his state-speech, as president, the most violent at- 
tacks upon the jacobins, declaring that the directory 
knew all the enemies which were conspiring against the 
republic, and that it would oppose them with equal 
vigour and perseverance, not by counterpoising one 
against the other, but by suppressing them all alike. 

As if, at that very instant, it was wished to punish 
him for having fulminated forth these menacing words, 
at the moment when the salvos of artillery and mus- 
quetry terminated the ceremony, two or three balls 
were heard, or were said to have been heard, whistling 
round Sieyes and Barras, followed by some shouts. 
Upon returning to the directory, whither I closely fol- 
lowed them, I found them both exasperated and en- 
raged to the utmost degree. I said, that if indeed there 
had been a plot, it could only have been planned by 
some military instigators ; and fearing that I should my- 
self become suspected by Sieyes, who would not have 
failed demanding my sacrifice, I insinuated to him, in a 
pencilled note, that he should remove General Marbot, 
commandant of Paris. It was notorious that this gene- 
ral shewed himself completely devoted to the party of 
the high republicans, who were opposed to Sieyes' po- 
litics. Upon the proposition of Sieyes, that very night, 
without the advice of Bernadotte, at that time the war 
minister, and without his knowledge, an order was made 
out, directing that Marbot should be employed on active 
service. The command of Paris was conferred upon 
General Lefevre, an illustrious Serjeant, whose ambition 
was limited to being the instrument of the majority of 
the directory. The diatribe of Sieyes, at the Champ 
de Mars, and the Houra against the jacobins, were con- 
sidered, by one half of the council of five hundred, 
as an appeal to the counter-revolution; the passions fer- 
mented still more and more, and the directory itself be- 



60 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

came divided and irritated. Barras was in doubt whe- 
ther he should attach himself to Gohier and Moulins, 
"which would have isolated Sieyes. His incertitude 
could not escape me ; I was convinced that it was not 
yet time to determine : I told him so candidly. Three 
days after the harangue of Sieyes, I took upon myself 
to recommend the closing of the hall of the jacobins of 
the Rue du Bac. I had my reasons.* A message 
from the directory announced that the violation of the 
constitutional forms by this re-united society, had de- 
termined it to order the closing of it. This bold step 
completed the irritation of a violent faction, which now 
experienced nothing but checks either from the govern- 
ment or the councils. 

It became also necessary to show that measures as 
decisive could be adopted against the royalists, who be- 
gan to stir in the west, and who had just made a futile 
effort in La Haute Garonne. Upon my report, the di- 
rectory required and obtained, by a message, the au- 
thority of making, for the space of one month, domicili- 
ary visits to discover the emigrants, embaucheurs, as- 
sassins, and robbers.t A few military measures in La 
Haute Garonne were sufficient to stifle this ill-conceiv- 
ed and ill-directed insurrection. As to the excesses 
perpetrated afresh by the Chouans, in Britany and La 
Vendee, as it was an inveterate evil proceeding from a 
vast cause, the remedy was not so easy in its applica- 
tion. The law of hostages, which prescribed measures 
against the relations of emigrants and nobles, instead of 
appeasing the troubles in their birth^ did but increase 
tliem. This law, which but too much recalled to me- 

* What then were Fouch6''s views in thus mancriivring against 
those centres of tlie popular government, or rather against the sove- 
reJgnt}' of tlie j)eopie, a favourite dogma of our author's? He 
has himself told us, he aspired to become one of the tirst heads of 
the revolutionary aristocracy. — Note of the Editor. 

t He was here no longer the Fouch«' of the revolutionary aris- 
tocracy, but the Foiichr of the convention ; his police was like 
JAnus, it had two faces. — liiff. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 61 

mory the reign of terror, appeared to me very odious, 
and well calculated to raise us up still more enemies. I 
contented myself with neutralizing its execution as much 
as depended upon myself, taking care, at the same time, 
that my repugnance did not irritate in too great a de- 
gree the directory and the departmental authorities. I 
perceived that these troubles Avere connected with one 
wound of the state, which the cabinet of London did its 
utmost to enlarge. I despatched into the western de- 
partments intelligent emissaries, to give me exact infor- 
mation of the state of things ; I then gained over a cer- 
tain number of royalist agents, who, having fallen into 
our power in the different disturbed departments, had 
to fear either death, exile, or perpetual imprisonment 
The greater part of these had ofTered their services to 
the government; I contrived means for their escape 
without their being liable to be suspected by their own 
party, whose ranks they again went to fill. They al- 
most all rendered valuable services, and I can even say 
that through them and the information they furnished, 
I succeeded at a later period in putting an end to the 
civil war.* The greatest obstacles proceeded from 
amongst ourselves; they were raised by the schism of 
the revolutionists, who divided themselves into the pos- 
sessors of power and the aspirants after office. The 
latter, impatient and irritated, became more and more 
exacting and hostile. How could it be hoped to govern 
and reform the state while the licentiousness of the 
press was permitted ? It was at its height. " The di- 
rectory, now nearly royalty," said the Journal des Hom- 
mes Libres^ " has ostensibly sanctioned the massacre of 
republicans by the speech of its president on the ]Oth 
of August, and by its message on the shutting up of 
political societies." Upon arriving at the Luxembourg, 
I found, as I expected, Sieyes and his colleagues exas- 
perated against the journals ; I immediately suggested 

* Here Fouche appears as the precursor and promoter of the 
imperial regime. — Note of the Editor. 



62 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

a message, requiring from the councils measures calcu- 
lated to curb the counter-revolutionary journalists and 
the libellers. The message was being drawn up, when 
the first intelligence arrived of the loss of the battle of 
Novi, and the death of Joubert. The directory was 
thunder-struck and discouraged. Although overcome 
with grief myself, 1 was nevertheless mindful that the 
reins should not be let fall ; nothing, however, could be 
decided on that day. In the circumstances in which we 
were placed, the loss of the battle was a disaster, the 
death of Joubert a calamity. He had set off with 
special instructions to come to an engagement with the 
Russians. Unfortunately, the delay of a month, occa- 
sioned by his marriage with Mile, de Montholon, had 
given the enemy time to reinforce himself, and to op- 
pose to our army more formidable masses. The death 
of Joubert, who was struck down at the first discharge 
of musquetry, and which has justly been deemed suspi- 
cious, has never been clearly explained. I have ques- 
tioned ocular witnesses respecting the event, who seem- 
ed persuaded that the murderous ball was fired from a 
small country-house, by some hired ruffian, the mus- 
quetry of the enemy not being within reach of the 
group of staff-officers, in the middle of which was Jou- 
beri, when he came up to encourage the advanced 
guard, which was giving way. It has even been said, 
that the shot was fired by a Corsican chasseur of our 
light troops. But let us not endeavour to unravel a 
dreadful mystery by conjectures or facts not sufficiently 
substantiated. I have you Joubert ! said Bonaparte, on 
setting off for Egypt. I will add, that his valour was 
heightened by his simplicity of manners and his disin- 
terestedness, and that m him a correct coup d'^ml was 
found, united with rapidity of execution — a cool head 
with a warm heart. And this warrior was just snatched 
from us, perhaps by the hand of a murderer, at the mo- 
ment when he might have raised and saved the country! 
The progress of the policy of the government was 
suspended for nearly fifteen days ; wc could not, hoAV- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 63 

ever, see ourselves perish. I urged Barras ; and well 
assured that Sieyes was meditating an important blow, 
which it was essential to parry, these two directors, re- 
united to Roger Ducos, resolved, upon my suggestions, 
to resume their counteracting plans. Resolved to re- 
strain the licentiousness of the press, I determined upon 
a decisive blow ; I at one stroke of my pen suppressed 
eleven of the most popular journals among the jacobins 
and the royalists. I caused their presses to be seized; 
and even arrested the authors, whom I accused of sow- 
ing dissension among the citizens, of establishing it by 
persisting to suppose its existence, of blasting private 
character, misrepresenting motives, reanimating factions, 
and rekindhng animosities.* By its message, the direc- 
tory restricted itself to inform the councils that the li- 
centiousness of several journalists had determined it to 
cite them before the tribunals, and to put seals upon 
their printing presses. Upon my report being read, 
murmurs were heard, and much agitation pervaded the 
hall. The deputy, Briot, declared that some coup 
d'etat was in preparation; and after a personal attack 
upon me, demanded the suppression of the ministry of 
tne police. The next day the directory caused an eu- 
logium upon my administration to be inserted in the 
Redacteur and Mpniteur. 

We had resumed our plans ; we had secured Moreao 
ta our party, a republican in his heart, but detesting 
anarchy. He was indeed but a poor politician, and we 
did not find a great occasion of security in his co-opera- 
tion. Indifferent, and easily alarmed, he was constantly 
in need of a stimulus. But we had no longer a power 
of choice ; for, among the generals then in credit, there 
was not a single one upon whom we could safely rely. 

* Always the same when a government equally free from contra- 
dictors and contradictions is the object in view ; Fouche does but 
follow, in this place, the errors of the convention, of the committee 
of public safety, and of the directory on the 18th Fructidor ; he will 
do the same under Bonaparte, and he will iprove to us he is right. — 
J^ote of the Editor. 



64 Mt^MOlRS OF FOUCHE. 

The political horizon daily became more gloomy. 
We had just lost Italy, and were menaced Avith the 
loss of Holland and Belgium : an Anglo-Russian expe- 
dition had landed on the 27th of August, in the north 
of Holland. From these reverses the ultra party de- 
rived fresh vigour. Their meetings became more fre- 
quent and active ; they nominated for their leaders 
Jourdan and Augereau, who had seats in the five hun- 
dred and in the council, and Bernadotte, who was minis- 
ter for war. Nearly two-hundred deputies had recruited 
their party : it was, indeed, a minority, but an alarming 
one ; as its roots in the directory, it had also the direc- 
tors Moulins and Gohier, at the moment when Barras, 
affecting to preserve a kind of equilibrium, believed 
himself, by this manceuvre, the arbiter of affairs. If he 
did not detach himself from Sieyes, it was solely from 
the fear that too violent a movement might deprive 
him of the power. 1 carefully preserved him in this 
disposition, much less to preserve my own stability, than 
from love for my country :* too violent a convulsion in 
favour of the popular party would have been our de- 
struction at this crisis. 

The motion for declaring the country in danger, pro- 
posed by Jourdan, was the signal of a grand effort on 
the part of our adversaries. I had been informed of it 
the night before. So that all our majority, assembled 
not without dilliculty, after a meeting at the house of 
the deputy Fregeville, marched to their post, deter- 
mined to stand firm. The picture of the dangers which 
surrounded us on every side was first drawn. " Italy 
under the yoke, the barbarians of the north at the very 
barriers of France, Holland invaded, the fleets treache- 
rously given up, Helvetia ravaged, bands of royalists in- 
dulging II) every excess in many of the departments, the 
repubhcans proscribed under the name oi terrorists and 
jacobins.'''' Such were the principal traits of the gloomy 

* What candour, what disinterestedness, in Fouch6 ! — Note of the 
Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 65 

picture which Jourdan drew of our pohtlcal situation. 
*' One more reverse upon our frontiers," cried he, " and 
the alarm-bell of royalty will ring over the whole sur- 
face of the soil of France, as that of liberty did on the 
14th July." 

After having conjured the directory, from the legisla- 
tive tribune, to discard the lukewarm friends of the re- 
public, in a crisis in which energy alone could be the 
salvation of France, he concluded by a motion, the ob- 
ject of which was to declare the country in danger. 
The adoption of this proposition would have hastened 
the movement which we were anxious to prevent, or at 
least to regulate. It produced the most violent discus- 
sion. The intention of the party had been to carry it 
with a high hand ; but whether from shame, or irreso- 
lution, they consented to adjourn the debate till the 
nexl day : this gave us breathing time. 

I was informed that the most ardent among the pa- 
triots had earnestly solicited Bernadotte to mount his 
horse and declare for them, aided by a tumult at once 
civil and military. Already, in spite of the efforts and 
opposition of the police, an appeal had been made to 
the old and new jacobins, to the old and new terrorists. 
Upon Barras and myself devolved the task of dissuading 
Bernadotte from an enterprise which would have made 
him the Marius of France, a part compatible neither 
with his character nor habits. Ambition was doubtless 
his ruling passion ; but it was a useful and generous am- 
bition, and liberty was the object of his sincere devo- 
tion. We both touched these sensitive chords, and 
succeeded in overcoming him. He was, however, aware 
of the projects founded under the aegis of Joubert, to- 
gether with the proposals made to Moreau, to change 
the form of government. We assured them that these 
were mere undigested ideas, mere chance projects, pro- 
posed by those theorists with which governments are 
coi linually annoyed in critical times ; that nothing in 
this respect had been determined upon; that the con- 
stitution would be respected as long as our enemies did 
9 



66 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

not wish to destroy it themselves. Barras hinted to 
hiru, that it was advisable he should express his wish 
to be appointed commander-in-chief of an army, as 
"while he held the war portfolio, he was the rallying 
point for an active party opposed to government. He 
avoided exj\laining himself respecting the hint thrown 
out, and left us. 

Sieyes and Roger Duces were extremely fearful of 
any failure ; the more so as I had certain intelligence, 
that vast crowds would be assembled round the legisla- 
tive hall, and that the party flattered themselves, they 
should carry their object by a coup de 7nain, with the 
assistance of three generals devoted to their interests. 
Sieyes, in his quality of president, having sent for Ber- 
nadotte, talked him over, and with much ability got 
him to say, that he would consider the chief command 
of an army as an honourable reward for his labours as 
minister. Upon which, Sieyes proposed immediate ac- 
tion. General Lefevre had already received orders to 
concert with me the necessary military measures for 
dispersing any popular assembling, by force, after being 
well assured of the good disposition of the soldiery. I 
found him full of confidence, and I believed I could 
rely upon his soldierlike inflexibility. My secret infor- 
mations coinciding with other confidential communica- 
tions, Sieyes and Barras, united with Roger Duces, dis- 
missed Bernadotte, without any communication what- 
ever to Moulins or Gohicr. As a douceur, we were com- 
pelled to assure them that they should be consulted 
upon the choice of the new minister, a choice which 
Gohier, seconded by Barras, directed a few days after 
upon Dubois de Crancc. 

The debate was opened in rather an imposing man- 
ner, upon the motion of Jourdan. Two opinions were 
expressed ; one party was desirous thai the government 
should preserve its ministerial and secret ciiaractcr ; 
the other that it should dcvelope one more national 
and public. These were so many masks, to conceal 
the real views of both parties. Jourdan's motion was 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 67 

opposed with much talent and ingenuity by Chenler 
and Lucien Bonaparte, and with less ability by Boulay 
de la Meurthe. Lucien declared, that the only mode 
of surmounting the crisis was, by intrusting a great ex- 
tent of power to the executive authority. He, how- 
ever, thought it his duty to combat the idea of a dicta- 
torship. " Is there one among us," cried he, (this is 
very remarkable,) " who would not arm himself with 
the poniard of Brutus, and chastise the base and ambi- 
tious enemy of his country?" This was anticipating 
the affair of the 18th Brumaire, a day, the triumph of 
which Lucien himself ensured two months afterwards. 
It is clear, that he at this time thought less of avoiding 
an inconsistency than at keeping at a distance all kind 
of dictatorship ; for this would have dashed down the 
hopes which his brother cherished in Egypt, to whom 
he had despatched courier after courier to hasten his 
return. Lucien's grand object was, that he should find 
the field clear, being well assured that neither hesita- 
tion nor irresolution would be found in him ; superior in 
this respect to our timorous generals, who, fearful of 
the responsibility of a precarious power, saw no other 
mode of reform but that of a new organization, consent^ 
ed to by men who were averse to any. 

The debate in the council of five hundred was very 
stormy. The report of Bernadotte's dismission had 
irritated it considerably. Jourdan perceived in this the 
certain prognostics of a coup (Petat, and demanded the 
permanence of the councils ; his motions were negativ- 
ed by two hundred and forty-five votes against one hun- 
dred and seventy-one. One hundred and two of the 
warmest among the deputies entered their protests. 
The mobs and crowds assembled around the hall were 
dreadful, and their shouts and vociferations threatening. 
The mass of the population of Paris testified their alarm, 
But, whether from imbecility or sluggishness, or from 
the efficacy of the measures of the military, and the 
manoeuvres of my agents, all the elements of trouble 
and discord were dissipated, and tranquillity began to 
re-appear. 



68 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHiE. 

The victory gained by the executive was coraplete ; 
the council of ancients rejected the resolution which was 
to have deprived the directory of the power of intro- 
ducing troops within the constitutional radius. 

These were, however, but evasive means. The 
country was really in danger ; angry factions lacerated 
the state. The removal of Bernadotte, disguised under 
the appearance of a dismissal, solicited on his part, was 
doubtless a decided act, but one which might be inter- 
preted to the disadvantage of the directory. In a let- 
ter which was made public, Bernadotte replied m these 
terms to the official notilication of his retirement, "I 
did not give in the resignation which was accepted, and 1 
make known this fact for the honour of truth, which 
equally belongs to contemporaries and to history." 
Then, declaring his want of repose, he solicited his re- 
tiring pension (Jraitement de rfform,) " which I think to 
have deserved," added he, " by twenty years of unin- 
terrupted services." 

Thus were we again plunged into chaos by the effect 
of this grand division of opinion which pervaded both 
the legislative body and the directory. " The vessel of 
the state," said I often to myself, " will float without 
any direction till a pilot present himself capable of 
bringing it safe into port."* 

Two sudden events brought about our safety. First, 
the battle of Zurich, gained by Massena on the 25th of 
September, who, by again defeating the Russians, and 
by preserving our frontier, permitted us to linger on 
without any interior crisis till the 16th of October, the 
day on which Bonaparte, who had landed on the 9th 
at Frc'jus, made his entry into Paris, afler having violat- 
ed the laws of quarantine, so essential to the preserva- 
tion of the public health. 

Here let us pause an instant. The course of human 
events is, doubtless, subjected to an impulse which is 

* Fouchc ably prepares us for the 18th Brumaire. — A'otc of the 
Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 61) 

derived from certain causes, the effects of which are 
inevitable. Imperceptible to the vulgar, these causes 
strike either more or less the statesman; he discovers 
them either in certain signs, or in fortuitous incidents 
whose inspirations enlighten and direct him. This was 
precisely what happened to me five or six weeks before 
Bonaparte's landing. I was informed that two persons, 
employed in the bureau de police, discussing the state of 
affairs, had said that Bonaparte would be soon seen 
again in France. I traced this remark to its source, and 
found it to have no other origin than one of those 
gleams of the mind which may be considered as a spe- 
cies of involuntary foresight. This idea made its im- 
pression upon me. 

I soon discovered by the temporizing of Lucien and 
Joseph, what were their real thoughts. They were 
persuaded that if their letters and packets arrived in 
Egypt, in spite of the British cruisers, Bonaparte would 
do his utmost to return ; but the chances appeared to 
them so uncertain and hazardous, that they dared not 
trust to them. Real, one of Bonaparte's secret cor- 
respondents, went still further ; he owned to me his 
hopes. I imparted them to Barras, but found him with- 
out any decided opinion upon the matter. As to my- 
self, concealing the discoveries I had made, I made s^> 
veral advances, both to the two brothers, and to Jose- 
phine, with the view of making both families favoura- 
ble ; they were divided. I found Josephine much more 
accessible. It is well known by what ill-judged profu- 
sion she perpetuated the disorder and the embarrass- 
ments of her family : she was always without a sous. 
The income of forty thousand francs, secured to her by 
Bonaparte before his departure, were insufficient for 
her; independent of two extraordinary remittances, 
amounting together to the same sum, Avhich had been 
sent her from Egypt, in less than one year. Besides 
this, Barras having recommended her to me, I had in- 
cluded her in the number of those who received secret 
pecuniary assistance from the funds arising from gam- 



70 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

bling licenses. I gave her, with my own hands, one 
thousand louis, a ministerial gallantry which completed 
her favourable opinion of me.* Through her means I 
obtained much information, for she saw all Paris ; with 
Barras, however, she was reserved, being more intimate 
with Gohier, at that time president of the directory, 
and receiving his lady at the house ; complaining at the 
same time very heavily of her brothers-in-law, Joseph 
and Lucien, with whom she w^as on very bad terms. 
My information from different quarters, at length, con- 
vinced me that Bonaparte would suddenly burst upon us; 
I was therefore, as it were, prepared for this event, 
at a time when every one else was struck with surprise 
at it. 

There would have been no great merit in coming to 
take possession of an immense power, which was otier- 
ed to the most enterprising, and of gathering the fruits 
of an enterprise in which, to succeed, the display of au- 
dacity was alone requisite ; but, to abandon a victorious 
army, to pass through hostile fleets, arrive in the very 
nick of time, hold all parties in suspense, and decide 
for the safest — to weigh, balance, and master every 
thing in the midst of so many contrary interests and op- 
posing passions, and all tiiis in twenty-five days, suppos- 
es wonderful ability, a hrm character, and prompt de- 
cision. To enter into the details of the short interval 
between tlic arrival of Bonaparte and the 10th Bru- 
maire, would fill a volume, or, rather, it would require 
the pen of a Tacitus. 

Bonaparte, with much ability, had caused his own ar- 
rival to be preceded by that of the bulletin announcing 
the victory of Alwukir. It did not escape my notice, 
that in certain coteries it was made much of; and that 
much inflation and hyperbole was put in requisition. 
Since the last despatches from Kgypt, much more move- 

* This IS truly being Vhommc habile^ and it i? pretty well known 
what the sifjnification of the adjective habile is with revolutionists.— 
KiUfor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 71 

ment and cheerfulness were perceptible at Josephine's 
and her brothers'-in-law. " Ah! if he should arrive for 
us!" said Josephine to me; "it is not impossible: 
should he have received the news of our disasters in 
time, nothing would prevent his flying hither to repair 
and save all !" A fortnight had scarcely elapsed after 
hearing these words, and Bonaparte suddenly landed. 
The most lively enthusiasm is excited on his passing 
through Aix, Avignon, Valence, Vienne, and especially 
Lyon : it might have been supposed that the universal 
feeling was that a chief was wanting, and that this chief 
had arrived under auspices the most fortunate. Upon 
being announced at Paris, in the theatres, the intelli- 
gence produced an extraordinary sensation, an universal 
delirium of joy. Perhaps there might have been some- 
thing prepared in all this, some concealed impelling 
power ; but the general opinion cannot be commanded, 
and certainly it was very flattering to this unexpected 
return of a great man. From this moment, he appear- 
ed to regard himself as a sovereign who had been re- 
ceived as such in his dominions. The directory at first 
Qonceived a hidden disgust for him, and the republicans, 
from instinct, many fears. A deserter from the army 
of the east, and an infractor of the quarantine laws, 
Bonaparte would have been broken by a firm govern- 
ment. But the directory, a witness of the general de- 
lirium, dared not be severe : it was besides divided. 
How can it agree upon so important an affair, without 
an unanimity of views and intentions ? The yery next 
day Bonaparte repaired to the Luxembourg to render an 
account, in a private sitting, of the situation in which he 
had left Egypt. There, compelled to account for his 
sudden return by the intention of sharing and averting 
the dangers of the country, he swore to the directory, 
grasping at the same time, the pommel of his sword, 
that it should never be drawn but in defence of the re- 
public and its government. The directory appeared 
convinced — so disposed was it to deceive itself. Find- 
ing himself thus welcomed and courted by the govern- 



72 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ors themselves, Bonaparte, firmly resolved upon seizing 
upon the chief authority, considered himself certain of 
his object. All depended upon the dexterity of his 
manoeuvres. He first considered the state of parties. 
The popular one, or that of the manege^ of which Jour- 
dan was one of the chiefs, floundered, as we have seen, 
in the void of an interminable revolution. Next suc- 
ceeded the party of the speculators upon revolution, 
whom Bonaparte called the poiirris, at the head of 
which was Barras ; then the moderates or poUtiques^ 
conducted by Sieyes, who endeavoured to fix the desti- 
nies of the revolution, that they might be the directors 
or arbiters of it. Could Bonaparte ally himself with 
the jacobins, even had they been inclined to confer the 
dictatorship upon him? But after having been victori- 
ous with them, he would have been under the necessity 
of being victor independent of them. What had Bar- 
ras really to offer him, but a rotten seat (^pIa7ichepourrie,') 
Bonaparte's own expression? The party of Sieyes re- 
mained, which he was compelled to deceive, the illus- 
trious deserter being unwilling to employ, otherwise 
than as an instrument, him who affected to remain at 
the head of affairs. Thus, in fact, Bonaparte could cal- 
culate upon no party in his favour, having for its object 
the foundation of his fortune in an open usurpation : 
and yet he succeeded, by deceiving every one, by de- 
ceiving the directors Barras and Sieyes, and especial- 
ly Moulins and Gohier, who alone possessed sincerity 
and good faith. 

He first formed a kind of privy council, composed of 
Ills brothers, of Bcrthicr, Rcgnault do St. Jean d'Ange- 
ly, IlcL'derer, Real, Bruix, and another person, who 
soon eclipsed the others by his acuteness and ability ; I 
mean M. do Talleyrand, who, harassed by the party 
of the manrgc, and forced to abandon the ministry, made 
himself of consequence in the new intrigues. He at 
first feared that he should not be well received by Bo- 
naparte, on account of the expedition to Egy[)t, or ra- 
ther, for having advised it. He, however, adroitly 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 73 

sounded his way, presented himself, and employed all 
the resources of his insinuatijig and supple spirit to cap- 
tivate the man, who, with a single coup d'oeil, perceiv- 
ed all the advantage to be derived from him. It was 
he who discovered to him the weaknesses of the govern- 
ment, and made him acquainted with the state of par- 
ties, and the bearings of each character. From him he 
learnt that Sieyes, followed by Roger Ducos, meditated 
a coup d'etat; that he was exclusively occupied with 
the project of substituting for that which existed a go- 
vernment after his own fashion ; that, if on the one 
hand he had against him the most determined of the 
republicans, who repented having elected him, on the 
other he had a party already formed, the centre of 
which was in the council of ancients, an advantage pos- 
sessed by no other director, not even Barras, who fluc- 
tuated between Sieyes on the one part, and Moulin and 
Gohier on the other ; that the tWo last, blindly attach- 
ed to the existing order of things, were somewhat inclin- 
ed towards the most ardent republicans, and even to the 
jacobins, and that with more talent and decision of cha- 
racter, they might dispose. as they thought fit of the coun- 
cil of the five hundred, and even of a considerable part 
of the other council. We found all Talleyrand's infor- 
mation confirmed by the opinions of his other advisers. 
As to himself, nothing of his real intentions was yet to 
he known. He apparently manifested much coolness 
towards Sieyes, but little confidence in Barras, much 
openness and intimacy with Moulins and Gohier ; he 
even went so far as to propose to them to get rid of 
Sieyes, upon condition of himself being elected in his 
place. But not being yet qualified by age to enter the 
directory, and the two directors fearing perhaps his 
ambition, the objection was firmly maintained to be in- 
superable. It was then doubtless, that his agents 
brought him upon more friendly terms with Sieyes. In 
this affair Talleyrand had employed Chenier, and Dau- 
nou. In a first conference between him, Daunou, 
Sieyes, and Chenier, he gave them the assurance of 
10 



74 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

leaving to them the direction of the government, pro- 
raising to be satisfied with being the first officer of the 
executive authority ; this I have from Chenier himself. 

It was immediately after this conference that the 
first meetings of the deputies were held, sometimes at 
Le Mercier's, and sometimes at Fregeville's. Who 
Avould credit it ? Bonaparte had at first his own bro- 
ther Lucien against him. " You know him not," said 
he to them who wished to Intrust him with the entire 
direction of the movement which was in preparation ; 
"you know him not; once there, he would think him- 
self in his camp; he would command all, would aspire to 
be all." 

But in eight days after, Lucien's co-operation was 
warm and powerful. As with so many others the re- 
publican mistrust was not able to resist the tempting 
bait of riches and honours. 

* It has been asserted, that I took no part whatever in 
these wholesome plottings; that I had temporized, but 
that I had gathered the fruits of them with the greatest 
dexterity. Certainly, the moment in which I am now 
writing is not very favourable for laying claim to the 
honour of having contributed to Bonaparte's elevation; 
but I have promised the truth, and I feel a satisfaction 
in telling it, superior to all the calculations of self-love, 
and all the disappointments of disappointed hope. 

The revolution of St. Cloud would have failed had I 
opposed it ; it was in my power to mislead Sieyes, put 
Bairas on his guard, and enlighten Gohier and Moulins; 
I had only to back Dubois de Crance, the only opposing 
minister, and the whole would have fallen to the ground. 
Bui it would have been stupidity in me not to have 
preferred some future prospects to an un|>i*omising 
tlank. My ideas were fixed. I considered Bonaparte 
as alone capable of effecting the political reforms impe- 
riously calW.'d for by our manners, vices, and excesses, 
by our disasters and fatal divisions. 

Bonaparte, indeed, was too cunning to let me into the 
secret ©f his means of execution, and to j)lace himself at 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 75 

the mercy of a single man. But he said enough to me 
to induce mj confidence, and to persuade me, of what I 
was already convinced, that the destinies of France 
were in his hands. 

In two conferences at Real's house, 1 did not conceal 
the obstacles he had to surmount. What chiefly en- 
gaged his attention I knew lo be the having to combat 
the republican spirit, to which he could only oppose the 
moderates or the bayonet. He, at this time, appeared 
to me politically speaking, inierior to Cromwell ; he 
had also to dread the fate of C^sar, without possessing 
either his fame or genius. 

But, on the other hand, what a difference between 
him, Lafayette, and Dumouriez ! All the advantages of 
the revolutionary sword, which those men wanted, he 
was in possession of, to coQjmand, or seize upon, su- 
preme power. All parties already seemed motionless, 
and in expectation before him. His return, his pre- 
sence, his renown, the crowds of his adherents, his im- 
mense credit in public opinion, caused much inquietude 
among the sombre lovers of liberty and of the republic. 
The two directors, Gohier and Moulins, now become 
their hope, endeavoured to gain him by dint of atten- 
tions and proofs of confidence. They proposed to their 
colleagues to confer upon him the command of the army 
of Italy. Sieyes opposed it ; Barras said, that he had 
already executed his mission there so well, that there 
was no necessity for his return. This proposal, of 
which he was informed, caused him to come to the di- 
rectory to provoke an explanation. There, his firm 
and elevated tone showed that he was above all fear. 
Gohier, president of the directory, leaving him the 
choice of an army, he replied very coolly to his obser- 
vations. I saw clearly he was hesitating: whether he 
should effect his revolution in conjunction .with Barras 
or Sieyes. 

It was now that I pointed out to him the necessity of 
prompt action, by persuading him to mistrust Sieyes 
and draw closer to Barras, so anxious was I that he 



70 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

shoiikl associate him in his views. " Have Barras on 
your side," said I to him, " manage the mihtary party, 
paralyze Bernadotte, Jourdan, and Augereau, and lead 
Sieyes." I thought, lor a moment, that my own sug- 
gestions and those of Real would overcome his dislike 
to Barras; he even went so lar as to promise us either 
to make hnn overtures, or to receive his. We inform- 
ed Barras of this, who sent him an invitation to dine 
with him the next day ; this was the Hth Brumaire. 
In the evening Real and I waited upon Bonaparte at 
his residence, to know the result of his conference with 
Barras. We there found Talleyrand and Roederer. 
His coach was soon heard approaching : he appeared. — 
" Well," said he to us, " Do you know what this Barras 
of yours requires? He freely owns that it is impossible 
to proceed in the present state of things : he is very de- 
sirous of having a president of the republic ; but it is 
himself whom he proposes. What ridiculous preten- 
sions? And this hypocritical wish of his he masks by 
proposing to invest Avith the supreme magistracy — 
whom do you suppose ? Hedouville, a very blockhead! 
Does not this sufficiently prove to you that it is upon 
himself he wishes to fix. the public attention? — What 
madness! — It is impossible to have any thing to do with 
such a man." 

I owned that in this there was certainly nothing 
practicable, but I said that, notwithstanding, 1 did not 
despair of convincing Barras that some arrangement 
might be made for saving the public allairs; and that 
Real and I would go to him and reproach him with his 
dissimulation and want of confidence ; that to all ap- 
pearance we should make him consent to more reason- 
able arrangements, by proving to him, that in this case 
deceit was out of season, and that he could do nothing 
better than unite his own destinies with those of a great 
man. " We will do our utmost," added we, " to bring 
him over to us." " Well, do so," said he. We imme- 
diately proceeded to Ibarras. He told us, at first, that 
it was verv natural he should require guarantees which 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ' 77 

Bonaparte continually eluded; we alarmed him, by 
giving a picture of the real state of things, and erf the 
ascendancy which the general exercised over the whole 
of the government. He at last agreed with us, and 
promised to go early the next day, and place himself at 
his disposal. He kept his word; and, upon his return, 
appeared persuaded that nothing could be done without 
him. 

Bonaparte had, however, decided for Sieyes. He 
had entered into engagements with him; besides, by 
his manoeuvres in every direction, he had enabled him- 
self to choose the intrigue most useful to his politics 
and ambition. On the one hand, he circumvented Gc- 
hier and Moulins ; on the other, he held Barras in sus- 
pense, and Sieyes and Roger-Ducos fettered. As for 
me, I was only informed of his operations through Real, 
who served, so to speak, as mutual guararitee between 
Bonaparte and me. 

Reckoning from the 9th Brumaire, the conspiracy 
developed itself rapidly ; each made his recruits. Tal- 
leyrand gave us Semonville, and among the principal 
generals, Beurnonville and Macdonald. Among the 
the bankers, we had Collot ; he lent two millions : this 
set the enterprise in full sail. They commenced se- 
cretly tampering with the garrison of Paris ; amongst 
others two regiments of cavalry which had served in 
Italy under Bonaparte. Lannes, Murat, and Leclere, 
were employed in gaining over the commanders of 
corps, and in seducing the principal officers. Inde- 
pendently of these three generals, and of Berthier, and 
Marmont, we could soon rely upon Serrurier and Le- 
fevre ; Moreau and Moncey were already certain. Mo- 
reau, with a self-denial, of which he had afterwards to 
repent, owned that Bonaparte was the man necessary 
to reform the state ; he thus spontaneously pointed him 
out to play the lofty part which had been destined for 
himself, but for which he had neither disposition nor 
political energy. 

On his side, the most active and able of the faction, 



78 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Lucien, seconded by Boulay dc la Meurthe, and by 
Regnler, concerted measures witli the most influential 
members devoted to Sieyes. In these meetings figured 
Chazal, Fre^eville, Daunou, Lemercier, Cabanis, Le- 
brun, Courtois, Cornet, Fargues, Baraillon, Villetard, 
Goupil-Prefein, Vimar, Bouteville, Cornudet, Herwyn, 
Delclov, Rousseau, and Le Jarry. The plotters of the 
two councils were deliberating upon the best and surest 
means of execution, when Dubois de Crance went to 
denounce the conspiracy to the directors Gohier and 
Moulins; requiring them to arrest Bonaparte instantly, 
and offering himself to see the order of the directory to 
this effect executed. The two directors, however, felt 
themselves so certain of Bonaparte, that they refused 
to give any credit to the information of the mmister-at- 
war. They required pioofs from him before they 
opened the matter to Bairas, or took any other mea- 
sure. They required proofs, at a time when a conspi- 
racy was being openly carried on, as is the custom in 
France. Conspiracy was a-foot at Sieyes', at Bona- 
parte's, at Murat's, at Lannes\ and at Berthier's; con- 
spiracy was being carried on in the saloons of the in- 
spectors of the council of ancients, and of the prin- 
cipal members of the commissions. Failing to persuade 
either Gohier or Moulins, Dubois de Crance despatched 
to them at the Luxembourg a police agent, who was 
well acquainted with the plot, and who revealed the 
whole of it to them. Goiiier and Moulins, after having 
heard him, caused him to be conlined wiiile they delibe- 
rated upon his revelations. This man, uneasy at a pro- 
ceeding the motive of which he could not understand, 
alarmed and terrified, escaped out of a window, and 
came to inform me of what had p.issed. His evasion 
and my own counter mines soon elliced from the minds 
of the two directors the impression which the procced- 
ing^f Dubois de Crance had made. I informed Bona- 
parte of all. 

The impulse was inunediately given ; Lucien assem- 
bled Boulay, Chazal. Cabanis, and Emile Gaudin ; each 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 79 

had his part assigned him. It was in the house of 
Madame Recamier, near Bagatelle, that Lucien ar- 
ranged the legislative measures which were to coincide 
with the military explosion. The presidency of the 
council of five hundred, with \^hich he was invested, 
was one of the principal supports on which the conspi- 
racy rested. Two powerful passions at this time agi- 
tated Lucien ; ambition and love. Deeply enamoured 
of Madame Recamier, a woman full of sweetness and 
charms, he considered himself the more unfortunate, 
because, having interested her heart, he could not sus- 
pect the cause of her cruel severities. In this tumult 
of his senses, however, he lost none of his activity and 
political energy. She who possessed his heart could 
read all there, and was discreet. It had been agreed, 
that the more efiiectually to disguise the plot, a splendid 
banquet should be given by subscription to Bonaparte, 
to which should be invited the chief of the high autho- 
rities, and of the deputies of both parties. The banquet 
was given, but was utterly destitute of cheerfulness 
and enthusiasm ; a mournful silence, and an air of re- 
straint pervaded it ; the parties were watching each 
other. Bonaparte, embarrassed with the part he had 
to act, retired at an early hour, leaving the guests a 
prey to their reflections. 

With Lucien's consent, Bonaparte had, on the 15th of 
Brumaire, a secret interview with Sieyes, in which 
were discussed the arrangements for the 18th. The 
object was to remove the directory and to disperse the 
legislative body, but without violence, and by means, to 
all appearance, legal ; but prepared with all the re- 
sources of artifice and audacity. It was determined to 
open the drama by a decree of the council of ancients, 
ordering the removal of the legislative corps to St. 
Cloud. The choice of St. Cloud for the assembling of 
the two councils was to prevent all possibility of a 
popular movement, and, at the same time, to afford a 
facility for employing the troops with greater security, 
away from the contact of Paris. 



80 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

In consequence of what was agreed upon between 
Siejes and Bonaparte, the secret council of the princi- 
pal conspirators, held at the Hotel de Breteuil, gave, on 
the IGth, its last instructions to Leraercier, the presi- 
dent of the council of ancients. These were to order 
an extraordinary convocation in the hall of the ancients 
at the Tuilleries, on the 18th, at ten o'clock in the 
morning. The signal was immediately given to the 
commission of the inspectors of the same council, over 
which the deputy Cornet presided. 

The third article of the constitution invested the 
council of ancients with the power of removing the 
two councils out of Paris. This was the coup d'etat 
which had been proposed to Sieyes by Baudin des 
Ardennes even before the arrival of Bonaparte. Bau- 
din was at that time president of the commission of the 
inspectors of the ancients, and an influential member of 
the council. In 1795, he had a great part in drawing 
up the constitution ; but, disgusted with his work, he 
entered into the views of Sieyes. It had always been 
his opinion, that an arm for action was required ; that 
is to say, a general capable of directing the military 
part of an event which might assume a serious charac- 
ter. The execution of it had been put oir On the 
news of Bonaparte's landing, Baudin, struck with the 
idea that Providence had sent the man for whom he and 
his party had so long searched in vain, died the very 
same night from excess of joy. He was succeeded by 
Cornet in the presidency of the commission of inspec- 
tors of the ancients, now become the principal centre of 
the conspiracy. He possessed neither the talent nor 
the influence of Baudin des Ardennes ; but he substi- 
tuted in their stead great zeal and much activity. 

It was of great importance to neutralize Gohier, 
president of the directory. With the view, therefore, 
of the better deceiving him, Bonaparte engaged him to 
dine with him on the HUh, witli his wife and brothers. 
lie also caused to be invited to breakfast for the sam< 
day, at eight o'clock in the iiiorniiit;, the generals and 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 81 

chiefs of corps ; announcing also, that he would receive 
the visits and respects of the officers of the garrison, 
and of the adjutants of the national guard, who had in 
vain solicited admission to his presence. One only 
obstacle caused uneasiness ; this was the integrity of the 
president, Gohier, who, being undeceived in sufficient 
time, might rally round him all the popular party, and 
the generals opposed to the conspiracy. Indeed, 1 was 
awake to this. However, for better security, it was 
proposed to draw the president of the directory into a 
snare. At midnight, ^(ladame Bonaparte sent him, by 
her son, Eugene Beauharnais, a friendly invitation for 
himself and his lady to breakfast with her, at eight 
o'clock in the morning. — " 1 have," wrote she, " some 
very important things to communicate to you." But 
the hour appeared suspicious to Gohier, and, after 
Eugene's departure, he decided that his wife should go 
alone. 

Already Cornet, the president of the commission of 
the ancients, had secretly assembled in his bureaux at 
five o'clock in the morning (the hour of the meeting), 
such members as were in the secret, or upon whom he 
could rely. The two commissions of both councils 
were in permanence. The ostensible meeting of the 
deputies of the ancients was fixed for ten in the morn- 
ing, and the assembly of the deputies of the five hun- 
dred at twelve. This last council was about to find 
itself obliged to close the sitting, after the mere readmg 
of the decree of removal, which was secured in the 
ancients. I had arranged every thing, in order to be 
informed in time of what took place, either at the com- 
missions, at Bonaparte's, or at the directory. 

At eight o'clock in the morning, I learnt that the 
president of the commission of the ancients, after having 
formed, by his extraordinary convocation, a fictitious 
majority, had, upon concluding a long and turgid ha- 
rangue, in which he represented the republic in the 
greatest danger, moved to transfer the legislative corps 
to St. Cloud, and to invest Bonaparte with the chief 
11 



a2 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

command of the troops. It was at the same time an- 
nounced to me, that the decree would pass. I instantly 
got into my coach, and going first to the Tuileries, learnt 
that the decree had been made ; and about nine o'clock 
I arrived at tiie hotel of Genera! Bonaparte, the court- 
yard of which was full of military. Every avenue was 
filled with officers and generals; and the hotel was not 
spacious enough to contain the crowds of his friends 
and adherents. All the corps of the garrison of Paris 
and of the military division had sent officers to take his 
orders. I entered the oval cabinet in which Bonaparte 
was ; he was impatiently awaiting, with Berthier and 
Lefevre, the resolution of the council of ancients. I 
announced to him that the decree of removal, which 
conferred upon him the chief command, had just passed, 
and that it would be instantly laid before him. I 
reiterated to him my protestations of devotion and zeal, 
informing him that I had just closed all the barriers, 
and had stopped the departure of couriers and mails. 
^ All that is useless," said he to me, in presence of 
several generals who entered ; " the numbers of citizens 
and brave men around me must sufficiently convince, 
that I act with, and for, the nation ; I shall take care to 
"Cause the decree of the council to be respected, and to 
maintain the public tranquillity." At that instant Jo- 
sephine came up to him, and told him, with much dis- 
satisfaction, that the president Gohier had sent his wife, 
but would not come himself. — " Write to him, by 
Madame Gohier, to come as (juick as possible," cried 
Bonaparte. A few minutes after, the deputy Cornet 
arrived, quite proud at having executed for the general 
the functions of slate-messenger. He brought him the 
decree which placed in his hands the fate of the rc- 
j)ul)lic. 

Bonaparte, leaving his cabinet immediately, made 
known to his adherents the decree which invested him 
with tlu' chief conunand ; then placing himself at the 
head of the generals, of the superior ollicers, and of 
1()00 cavalry, foruiing part of the garrison of Paris, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 83 

which had just been brought him by Murat, he began 
his march towards the Champs Eljsees, after desiring 
me to ascertain what resolution the directory had adopt- 
ed upon learning the decree of removal. 

I first repaired to my hotel, where I gave orders for 
placarding a proclamation, signed by myself, in the 
spirit of the revolution which had just commenced ; I 
then directed my steps towards the Luxembourg. 

It was a little after nine o'clock, and I found Moulins 
and Gobier, who with Barras formed the majority of 
the directory, completely ignorant of what was passing 
in Paris. Madame Tallien, in defiance of the counter- 
sign, had entered the apartments of Barras, whom she 
surprised in the bath ; she was the first to inform him 
that Bonaparte had acted without him. " What do 
you mean," cried the indolent epicure — " that man (de- 
signating Bonaparte by a coarse epithet) has included 
all of us in the affair." However, in the hope of nego- 
tiating, he sent to him his confidential secretary, Botot, 
modestly to inquire what he might expect from him. 
Botot found Bonaparte at the head of the troops, and, 
delivering his message, received this harsh reply — 
"Tell that man that I will never/^see him more!" He 
had just detached Talleyrand and Bruix from his inte- 
rests, for the purpose of forcing him to resign. 

Having entered the apartments of the Luxembourg, 
I announced to the president the decree which trans- 
ferred the sittings of the legislative corps to the Cha- 
teau of St. Cloud, — " I am nmch astonished," said Gohier 
peevishly to me, " that a minister of the directory 
should thus transform himself into a messenaer of the 
council of ancients." 

" I considered it," replied I, " a part of my duty to 
give you intelligence of so important a resolution, and 
at the same time I thought it expedient to come and 
attend the orders of the directory." " It was far more 
your duty," rejoined Gohier in an altered tone, " not to 
have let us remain in ignorance of the criminal intrigues, 
which have produced such a decree ; this is no doubt 



U4 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

but the prelude to all that has been plotted against the 
government in the meetings which, in your quality of 
minister of the police, you ought to have discovered and 
made known to us." " But," returned I, " the direc- 
tory was not without this information; I myself, finding 
I did not possess its confidence, emploved indirect means 
to give it tjie necessary information; but the directory 
Avould never give credit to my agents; besides is it not 
by its own members that this bhiw has been struck? 
The directors Sieyes and Roger Ducos are already in 
coalition with the commission of the inspectors of the^ 
ancients." " The majority is at the Luxembourg," re- 
plied Gohier vehemently: "and if the directory have 
any orders to give, it will intrust the execution of them 
to men worthy of its confidence." Upon this I with- 
drew, and Gohier lost no time in summoning his two 
colleagues Barras and Moulins. I had scarcely got into 
my carriage, when I saw the messenger of the ancients 
arrive, bringing to the president the communication of 
the decree of removal to St. Cloud. Gohier immedi- 
ately repaired to Barras, and made him promise to meet 
him and Moulins in the hall of deliberations, to deter- 
mine what steps were to be taken in the present con- 
juncture. 

Such, however, was the perplexity of Barras, that he 
was incapable of adopting any vigorous resolution. 
In fact, he did not hesitate a moment to forget his 
promise to Gohier when he saw two agents from 
Bonaparte enter his apartment, Bruix and Talleyrand, 
who were commissioned to negotiate his retreat from 
the directory. They at first declared to him, that Bo- 
naparte was determined to employ against him all the 
means of force in his power, should he attempt to make 
the least opposition to his plans. After having thus 
acted upon his fears, the two adroit negotiators made 
him the most magnificent proun'ses if he would consent 
to send in his resignation. Barras exclaimed against 
this treatment for some time, but at length yielded to 
the arguments of two artful men : they repeated to him 



• MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 8^. 

the assurance that he should want for nothing that 
could contribute to a luxurious and tranquil life, free 
from the anxieties of a power he was no longer able to 
retain. Talleyrand had a letter already drawn up, 
which Barras was advised to address to the legislature, 
to notify his determination of retiring into private life. 
Thus placed between hope and fear, he ended by sign- 
ing all that was required of him ; and having thus plac- 
ed himself at Boiiaparte's mercy, he quitted the Lux- 
embourg, and set oil for his estate at Grosbois, escorted, 
and watched, by a detachment of dragoons. 

Thus, by nine o'clock in the morning, no majority in 
the directory existed. About this time arrived Dubois 
de Crance, who, persisting in his opposition, solicited 
from Gohier and Moulins an order for the arrest of 
Bonaparte, Talleyrand, Barras, and the principal con- 
spirators, taking upon himself as minister of war, to ar- 
rest Bonaparte and Murat on the road even to St- 
Cloud. Perhaps Moulins and Gohier, at length unde- 
ceived, would have yielded to the urgent remonstrances 
of Dubois de Crance, had not Lagarde, chief secretary 
to the directory, and who had been gained over, declar- 
ed that he would not countersign any decree which 
should not have the sanction of the majority of the di- 
rectory. " At the worst," said Gohier, rather damped 
by this observation, " how can there be any revolution 
at St. Cloud ? I have here, in rav quality of president, 
the seals of the republic." Moulins added, that Bona- 
parte was to dine with him at Gohier's and that he 
would soon discover his real intentions: 

I had for some time formed an opinion of the abilities 
of these men so little calculated to govern the state ; 
nothing could equal their blindness and incapacity ; it 
may justly be affirmed that they betrayed themselves. 

Events already began to develop themselves. Bo- 
naparte on horseback, followed by a numerous staff, 
first took the road to the Champs Elysees, where seve- 
ral corps were drawn up in order of battle. After be- 
ing acknowledged by them as their general, he pro- 



86 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ceeded to the Tulleries. The weather was extremely 
fine, and favoured the utmost display of mlhtary pomp 
in the CHamps Elysees, on the quays, and in the na- 
tional garden, which was in a moment transformed into 
a park of artillery, and where the crowd became ex- 
cessive. Boiiaparte was greeted at the Tuileries by the 
shouts of the citizens and the soldiery. Having pre- 
sented himself with a military suite at the bar of the 
council of ancients, he eluded taking the constitutional 
oath ; then descending from the chateau, he came to 
harangue the troops already disposed to obey him. 
There, he learnt that the directory was disorganized; 
that Sieyes and Roger Duces had sent in their resigna- 
tion to the commission of the inspectors of the ancients ; 
and that Barras was on the point of subscribing to the 
conditions offered him. Passing on to the commissions 
of the assembled inspectors, the general there found 
Sieyes, Roger Duces, and several deputies of their 
party. Gohier, president of the directory, tojjether 
wi^h his colleague, Moulins, now arrived ; both of 
whom refused their adhesion to what had taken 
place. An explanation took place between Gohier and 
Bonaparte. " My plans," said tiie latter, "are not hos- 
tile ; the republic is in danger — it must be saved I 

will it !'^ At this very moment, intelligence arrived 
that the faubourg Saint Antoine Avas rising at the insti- 
gation of Santerre, who was a relation of Moulins ; Bo- 
naparte, turning to him, and questioning him upon the 
subject, told him " that he would send a detachment of 
cavalry to shoot Santerre, if he dared to make the least 
stir." Moulins removed Bonaparte's apprehensions, and 
declared that Santerre could not assemble four men 
round him. He was, in fact, no longer the instigator of 
the insurrection of 1792. I, myself, repeated the as- 
surance that there would not be the least shadow of 
popular tumult ; and said that 1 would answer for the 
trancjuillily of Paris. Gohier and Moulins, finding that 
the injpulse was given, that the movement was irresis- 
tible, re-<'ntercd the Luxembourg to witness the defec- 
tion of thcii- guards. Both were there soon K«c./>^-^'' 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. i}7 

by Moreau; for Bonaparte had already made certain 
military arrangements which placed in his power all the 
public authorities and establishments. Moreau was sent 
with a detachment to invest the Luxembourg ; General 
Lannes was intrusted with a corps to guard the legisla- 
tive body ; Murat was despaiched in all haste to occupy 
St. Cloud ; while Serrurier was in reserve at the Point- 
du-Jour. All proceeded without any obstacle, or, at 
least, no opposition manifested itself in the capital; 
where, on the contrary, the revolution appeared to meet 
with general approbation. 

In the evening a council was held at the commission 
of the inspectors, either for the purpose of preparing 
the public mind for the events which the next day was 
to produce, or to determine upon what was to be done 
at St. Cloud. I was present ; and saw there, for the 
first time, undisguised, and in presence of each other, 
the two parties now united for the same object ; but of 
which the one appeared already to be alarmed at the 
ascendency of the military faction. At first, much dis- 
cussion took place without any thing being well under- 
stood, and without coming to any determination. All 
that Bonaparte himself proposed, or that his brothers 
proposed for him, smacked of the dictatorship of 
the sabre. The legislative party who had embrac- 
ed his cause, took me aside, and made me the re- 
mark. " But," said I to them, " it is done ; the mili- 
tary power is in the hands of General Bonaparte ; 
you, yourselves, invested him with it, and you cannot 
proceed a step without his sanction." I soon perceived 
that the majority would willingly have receded, but 
they had no longer the power of so doing. The most 
timorous separated themselves ; and when we had got 
rid of the fearful, and those we could not depend upon, 
the establishment of three provisionary consuls was 
agreed upon, namely : Bonaparte, Sieyes, and Roger 
Ducos. Sieyes then proposed to arrest about forty of 
the leaders who were hostile, or imagined to be so. I 
advised Bonaparte, through St. Real, not to consent to 



88 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

it ; and, in his first steps in the road to supreme power, 
not to render himself the instrument of the fury of a 
vindictive priest. He understood me, and alleged that 
the idea was premature ; that there Avould be neither 
opposition nor resistance. " You will see that to-mor- 
row at St. Cloud," said Sieyes, rather hurt. 

[ confess, that I was not myself very confident re- 
specting the issue of the next day. All that I had just 
heard, and all the information I could gather, agreed in 
that point, that the authors of this movement could not 
rely upon the majority among the members of the two 
councils ; almost all conceiving the idea that the object 
was to destroy the constitution, in order to establish the 
military power on its ruin. Even a great party of the 
initiated repelled the idea of a dictatorship, and flatter- 
ed themselves with being able to avert it. But Bona- 
parte already exercised an immense influence both 
within and without the sphere of these tottering autho- 
rities. Versailles, Paris, Saint Cloud, and Saint Ger- 
main, were favourable to his revolution : and his name 
among the soldiers operated as a talisman. 

His privy council appointed as leaders to the depu- 
ties of the ancients, Regnier, Cornudet, Lemercier, and 
Fargues ; and for guides to the deputies of the councils 
of the hundred, devoted to the party, Lucien Bona- 
parte, Boulay de la Mourthe, Emile Gaudin, Chazal, 
and Cabanis. On their side, the opposing members of 
the two councils, united to the leaders of the manege, 
passed the night in secret deliberations. 

The next day, at an early hour, the road from Paris 
to St. Cloud was covered with troops, officers on horse- 
back, spectators, coaches full of deputies, functionaries, 
and journalists. The hall for the two councils had just 
been hastily prepared. It was soon perceived, that the 
military party m the two councils was reduced to a 
small number of deputies, more or less ardent for the 
new order of things. 

I remained at Pans seated in mv cabinet, with all my 
police in permanence ; observing all lliat passed, re- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 89 

ceiying and examining mjself every report which arri- 
ved. I had detached to St. Cloud a certain number of 
able and intelligent emissaries, for the purpose of plac- 
ing themselves in contact with the persons who were 
pointed out to them ; and other agents, who, returning 
thence every half hour, came to inform me of the pos- 
ture of affairs. I was thus made acquainted with the 
least incident, the most trilling circumstance, that could 
affect the expected denouement ; I was decidedly of 
opinion that the sword alone could cut the knot. 

The sitting opened at the five hundred, over which 
Lucien Bonaparte presided, by an artful speech of 
Emile Gaudin ; the object of which was the appoint- 
ment of a commission charged to present an immediate 
report upon the situation of the republic, Emile Gau- 
din, in his pre-arranged motion, also required that no 
measures whatever should be determined upon till the 
report of the proposed commission had been heard. 
Boulay de la Meurthe held the report in his hand, al- 
ready prepared. 

Scarcely, however, had Emile Gaudin concluded his 
motion, than a most dreadful tumult agitated the whole 
assembly. The cries of Long live the Constitution / 
JVo Dictatorship ! Down with the Dictator ! were heard 
on all sides. Upon the motion of Delbrel, seconded 
and supported by Grandmaison, the assembly, rising in 
a body at the cry of Long live the Republic ! resolved 
that they would renew individually the oath of fidelity 
to the constitution. Those even who had come for the 
professed object of destroying it, took the oath. 

The hall of the ancients was almost equally agitated ; 
but there the party of Sieyes and Bonaparte, who were 
anxious to accelerate the establishment of a provisiona- 
ry government, had asserted as a fact, upon a false de- 
claration of the Sleur Lagarde, chief secretary of the 
directory, that all the directors had sent In their resig- 
nation. The oppositionists immediately demanded that 
substitutes should be provided according to the pre- 
scribed forms. Bonaparte, informed of this double 
12 



90 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

storm, thought it was time to appear upon the stage. 
Crossing the Salon de Mars, he entered the council of 
the ancients. There, in a verbose and disjointed speech, 
he declared that there was no longer any government, 
and that the constitution could no longer save the re- 
public. Conjuring the council to hasten to adopt a new 
order of things, he protested that with respect to the 
magistracy they should appoint, his only wish was to be 
the arm commissioned to maintain and execute the or- 
ders of the council. 

This speech, of which I only give the substance, Ayas 
delivered in a broken and incoherent manner, which 
fully testified the agitation the general suffered, who 
sometmies addressed himself to the deputies, and then 
turned towards the soldierv, who remained at the end 
of the hall. Cries of Long live Bonaparte^ and the ac- 
quiescence of the majority of the ancients having given 
him fresh courage, he withdrew, hoping to make alike 
impression upon the other council. He was not without 
some apprehensions, knowing what had passed there, 
and with what enthusiasm they had sworn fidelity to 
the republican constitution. A message to the directo- 
ry had just been decreed there. A motion was being 
made to require from the ancients an explanation of the 
motives of its removal to vSt. Cloud, when they receiv- 
ed the resignation of the director Barras transmitted to 
them by the other council. This resignation, of which, 
till then, they had been ignorant, caused a great asto- 
nishment throughout the assembly. It was considered 
as the result of some dcei>laid intrigue. At the very 
moment the question was being discussed whether the 
resignation was legal and according to the forms, Bona- 
parte arrived, followed by a platoon of grenadiers. 
Scarcely, however, had he entered the hall, when the 
assembly were thrown into the utmost disorder. All 
the members standing up, expressed in loud cries the 
cll'ect produced upon them by the appearance of the 
bayonets and of the general who thus advanced armed 
into the tenn)lc of the legislature. " You arc violating 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 91 

the sanctuary of the laws, withdraw instantly !" exclaim- 
ed several deputies. " What are you doing, rash man?" 
cried Bigonnet to him. " Is it then for this you have 
been a conqueror?" said Destrem. In vain Bonaparte, 
who had ascended the tribune, endeavoured to stam- 
mer out a few sentences. On all sides he heard the 
cries repeated of Long live the Constitution! Long live 
the Republic ! On all sides he was saluted by cries of 
Down with the Cromwell ! Down with the Dictator ! 
Down with the Tyrant ! Away loith the Dictator ! Some 
of the more furious deputies rushed upon him and push- 
ed hiui back. " You will make war then upon your 
country !" cried Arena to him, showing him the point 
of his stiletto. The grenadiers, seeing their general 
grow pale and tremble, crossed the room to form a 
rampart around him ; Bonaparte threw himself amongst 
them, and they escorted him away. Thus rescued, ancl 
almost frantic, he remounted his horse, set off at a gal- 
lop, and riding towards the bridge of Saint Cloud, cried 
aloud to his soldiers, " They have attempted my life ! 
they have wished to put me out of the protection of the 
laws ! they do not know, then, that I am invulnerable, 
for I am the god of thunder." 

Murat having joined him on the bridge, " It is not fit- 
ting," said he to him, " that he who has triumphed over 

such powerful enemies should fear drivellers 

Come, general, courage, and the victory is our own!" 
Bonaparte then turned his horse's head and again pre- 
sented himself before the soldiers, endeavouring to ex- 
cite the generals to bring matters to a conclusion by a 
coup de main. But Lannes, Serrurier, and Murat him- 
self, seemed but little disposed to direct the bayonets 
against the legislature. 

In the mean time the most horrible tumult reigned 
in the hall. Firm in the president's chair, Lucien made 
vain efforts to re-establish tranquillity, earnestly entreat- 
ing his colleague to allow his brother to be recalled and 
heard, and obtaining no other answer than, Outlawry ! 
Let the outlawry of General Bonaparte be put to the vote ! 



92 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

They even went so far as to call upon him to put io the 
vote the motion of outlawry against his brotncr. Lu- 
cien, indignant, quitted the chair, abdicated the presi- 
dency, and laid aside its ensigns. He had scarcely de- 
scended from the tribune, when some grenadiers arriv- 
ed, and carried him out with them. Lucien, astonished, 
learnt that it was by order of his brother, who was 
anxious for his advice, being determined upon employ- 
ing force to dissolve the legislature. Such was the ad- 
vice of Sieyes ; seated in a chaise drawn by six post 
horses, he awaited the issue of the event at the gates 
of St. Cloud. There was no longer time for hesitation ; 
pale and trembling, the most zealous partisans of Bona- 
parte were petrified, whilst the most timid among them 
already declared against his enterprise. Jourdan and 
Augercau were observed standing aloof, watching the 
favourable moment for drawing the grenadiers into the 
popular [)arty. But Sieyes, Bonaparte, and Talleyrand, 
who had come to Saint Cloud with Roedercr, were of 
opinion, as well as myself, that the party would want 
both an arm and a head. Lucien, inspiring Bonaparte 
with all his energy, mounted a horse, and in his quality 
of president, required the assistance of force to dissolve 
the assembly. The grenadiers in close columns, with 
Murat at their head, followed him into the hall of the 
five hundred, whilst Colonel Moulins caused the charge 
to be beaten. The hall is invaded amidst the noise of 
drums and the shouts of the soldiers, the deputies es- 
cape out of the windows, throw aw«y their togas, and 
disperse themselves. Such was the lesult of the day 
of Saint Cloud (19th Brumaire, 10th November.) Bo- 
naparte was particularly indebted for it to the energy 
of his brother Lucien, to the decision of Murat, and 
perhaps to the weakness of the ijcnerals, who, being op- 
posed to him, dared not openly show their hostility. 

But it became necessary to render national an anti- 
popular event, irj which force had triumphed over a re- 
presentative rabble, alike incapable of shownig either a 
real orator or chief. It was requisite to sanction what 
history will call the triumph of military usurpation. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. x 93 

Sieyes, Talleyrand, Bonaparte, Roederer, Lucien, and 
Boulaj de la Meurthe, who were the soul of the enter- 
prise, decided that the deputies of their parties who 
were wandering through the apartments and galleries of 
St. Cloud should be instantlv assembled. Boulay and 
Lucien went in search of them, assembled between 
twenty or thirty, and constituted them the council of 
five hundred. From this meeting a decree was issued, 
the burden of which was, that General Bonaparte, the 
general officers, and the troops which seconded him, 
had deserved well of their country. The leaders then 
determined upon asserting in the next day's newspaper, 
that several deputies had endeavoured to assassinate 
Bonaparte, and that the majority of the council had 
been ruled by a minority of assassins. 

Then came the promulgation of the act of the 19tli 
Bruraaire, likewise concerted among the chiefs, to serve 
as a legal foundation for the new revolution. This act 
abolished the Directory; instituted a consular executive 
commission, composed of Sieyes, Roger Ducos, and Bo- 
naparte ; adjourned the two councils, and excluded from 
them sixty-two members of the popular party, among 
whom figured General Jourdan ; it likewise established 
a legislative commission of fifty members chosen equally 
from both councils, whose duty it was to prepare a new 
draught of the constitution of the state. Upon being 
brought from the assembly of the five hundred to the 
council of the ancients, to be transformed into a law, this 
act was only voted for by the minority, the majority 
maintaining a mournful silence. Thus the intermediary 
establishment of the new order of things was converted 
into a law by some sixty of the members of the legisla- 
ture, who declared themselves to be duly qualified for 
the employment of ministers, diplomatic agents, and de- 
legates of the consular commission. 

Bonaparte, with his two colleagues, came into the 
council of the ancients to take the oaths, and on the 
11th of November, about five o'clock in the morning, 
the new government quitting St. Cloud, came to install 



94 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

itself in the palace of the Luxembourg. I had foreseen, 
that all the authority of this executive triumvirate 
would fall into the hands of him who had already been 
invested with the military power. Of this, there was 
no longer aiiy doubt after the first sitting which the 
three consuls held together that very night. There Bo- 
naparte, with the authority of a superior, took posses- 
sion of the president's arm chair, which neither Sieyes 
nor Roger Ducos dared to dispute with him. Roger, 
already gained over, declared, that Bonaparte alone 
could save the country, and that he would henceforth 
follow his opinion in ever^ thing. Sieyes sat silent, bit- 
ing his li|)S. Bonaparte knowing him to be avaricious, 
abandoned to him the private treasury of the directory; 
it contained 800,000 francs, which Sieyes immediately 
seized, and adopting the lion's mode of division, left on- 
ly 100,000 francs to his colleafifue Roger Ducos. This 
trifling dfHiccur calmed his ambition a little, for he wait- 
ed till Bonaparte should engage in military affairs, and 
resign the civil aifairs into his hands. But hearing Bo- 
naparte at their first sitting tieat upon the finances, the 
administration, the laws, the army, politics in general, 
and discuss these various subjects with much ability, he 
said, upon entering his house, in presence of Talleyrand, 
Boulny, Cabanis, Rcederer, and Chazal : "Gentlemen, 
you have found a master." 

It was easy to perceive that a mistrustful and avari- 
cious priest, surfeited with gold, would not dare to con- 
tend a long time with a general, young, active, possessed 
of immense renown, and who had already made himself 
master of power, by force. Besides, Sieyes possessed 
none of fliose qualities which could have insured him a 
great inlliioncc with a proud and warlike nation. His 
title alone, of prirsf, had made him unpopular with the 
armv ; \\cvi\ jiitilicc could do nothing against force. By 
wishing to make a trial of it with nspect to me, Sieyes 
fell. 

In the second sillinjr hold by the ron=ulc, the change 
of the ministry was discussed. The chief secretary of 




MEMOII«p||ii:jCH%: 95 

the executive commission was figj§: named, and the 
choice fell upon Maret. BerthjfdHj^^ate the first called 
to be minister at war ; he replacea ©ubois de Crance, 
whom Bonaparte never pardoned for his opposition 
against him. Robert Lindet yielded the finance to 
Gaudin, formerly a chief clerk devoted to Bonaparte ; 
Cambaceres was left at the head of justice. In the 
ministry of marine, Bourdon was replaced by Forfait; 
the geometrician Laplace succeeded Quinette in the in- 
terior ; the foreign atFairs was reserved m pe^^o for Tal- 
leyrand, and in the interim the Westphalian Reinhard 
served him as a cloak. When they came to the police, 
Sieyes, alleging some insidious reasons, proposed that I 
should be replaced by Alquier, who was his creature. 
Bonaparte objected that I had conducted myself very 
well on the 18th Brumaire, and that I had given suffi- 
cient proofs of it. In fact, not only I had favoured the 
development of his incipient dispositions, but had also, 
at the critical moment, succeeded in paralysing the ef- 
forts of several of the deputies and generals who might 
have injured the success of the day. Scarcely had the 
intelligence of it reached me, than 1 caused to be pla« 
carded that very night all over Paris, a proclamation 
full of attachment and obedience to the saviour of the 
country. I was retained in an office, without doubt, the 
most important of all, in spite of Sieyes, and in defiance 
of the intrigues which had been played oiF against me. 
Bonaparte judged better of the state of things ; he 
felt that he had many obstacles yet to overcome, that 
it was not sufficient to vanquish, but that he must sub- 
due : that it was not too much to have at his command 
a minister experienced against the anarchists. He was 
equally convinced that his interest rendered it impera- 
tive upon him to lean for support upon a man whom he 
believed most capable of keeping him on his guard 
aaainst a cheat who had' become his colleague. The 
confidential report which I placed in his hands the very 
evening of his installation, at the Luxembourg, had con- 
vinced him that the police was as clear as it was quick- 
sighted. 



96 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Sieyes, in the mean time, who was anxious for pro- 
scriptions, was continually exclaiming against such as he 
called opposers and anarchists: he told Bonaparte, that 
the public opinion, empoisoned by the Jacobins, became 
detestable; that the police bulletins supported it, and 
that severe examples were necessary. " See," said he, 
" in what colours they have painted the glorious day 
of Saint Cloud! To believe them, its only springs, its 
only lever, were artifice, falsehood, and audacity. The 
consular commission is nothing but a triumvirate invest- 
ed with a terrific dictatorship, which corrupts the bet- 
ter to enslave ; the act of the l9th Brumaire is the 
■work of a few deserters, abandoned by their colleagues, 
and who, deprived of a majority, are not less eager to 
sanction the usurpation. You should hear what they 
say of you, of me ! We must not suffer ourselves to be 
thus dragged through the mire, for if once debased, we 
are lost. In the Faubourg St. Germain, some say that 
it is the military faction which has just snatched the 
reins of government out of the hands of the lawyers ; 
others assert, that General Bonaparte is about to per- 
form the part of Monk. Thus by some we arc classed 
"with the Bourbons, and by others among the most furi- 
ous of Robespierre's creatures. Severity is necessary 
to prevent public opinion from being left to the mercy 
of the royalists and anarchists. These must be struck 
fn-st. It is always in its dt'but that a new power should 
show its force." Upon concluding this artful speech, 
Sieyes suggested that the head of the police should be 
recjuircd to put in execution a measure highly essential 
to the public weal, and the general security; he per- 
suaded Ronnparle. It had been declared, on the lOtli 
Brumaire, tlial there should be no more oppressive acts, 
no more lists of proscription, and yet, on the 26th, I 
was required to furnish names in order to form a list of 
the proscribed. That same day issued a decree con- 
demning, without previous trial, fifty-five of the princi- 
pal (jpposers to ])ntilshinenf, ihirtv-srvon to French Gui- 
ana, and twenty-two to the Island of Olrron. Onthc'^c 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ^ 97 

lists names, blasted and odious, were seen followed by 
those of amiable and esteemed citizens. What I had 
prognosticated to the consuls came to pass ; the voice 
of the public, highly, and in the strongest manner, dis- 
approved of this impolitic and useless proscription. 

They were compelled to yield, and commenced by • 
exceptions. I solicited and obtained the liberty of 
several proscribed deputies. I represented how much 
France and the army would be shocked at seeing peo- 
ple persecuted, on account of their opinions — JourdaOj 
for example, who had gained the battle of Fleurus, and 
whose probity was unassailable. The proscriber, Sieyes, 
finding Bonaparte alarmed, did not dare to follow up 
any more the execution of an odious measure, which 
he carefully imputed to me. It was reported, and they 
contented themselves, upon my proposition, with placing 
their opponents under the surveillance of the high po- 
lice. The three consuls then felt how necessary it was 
for them to consult and gain public opinion ; many of 
their acts were calculated to deserve the confidence of 
the people. They lost no time in revoking the law re- 
specting hostages and loans, which was so unpopular. 

A few days sufficed to make it certain, that the trans- 
actions of the I8th Brumaire had obtained the consent 
of the nation. This has now become an historical truth ; 
it was at that time a fact which decided between the 
government of the many, and that of a single person. 

The strict republicans, the desponding friends of lib- 
erty, alone saw with regret Bonaparte's accession to the 
supreme power. They at first drew from it the most 
gloomy consequences and anticipations; they were right 
in the end ; we shall see why, and shall assign the rea- 
sons of it. 

I had declared myself against the proscriptions, and 
against all other general measures. Certain, hence- 
forth, of my credit, and finding myself firmly establish- 
ed in the ministry, I endeavoured to impart to the ge- 
neral police a character of dignity, justice, and modera- 
tion, which, to render more lasting, has not depended 

13 



9J> MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

upon myself. Under tlic directory, the women of the 
town were employed in the vile trade of espionnagc. 
I forbade the use of such disgraceful instruments ; wish- 
ing to give to the scrutinizing eye of the police the di- 
rection of observation only, not of accusation. 

I also caused misfortune to be respected by obtaining 
an alleviation of the fate of emigrants shipwrecked upon 
the northern coasts of France, among whom were persons 
belonging to the flower of the ancient nobility. I was 
not satisfied with this first attempt towards a return to 
national humanity ; I made a report to the consuls, in 
which I solicited the liberty of all emigrants whom the 
tempest had cast upon the shores of their country. I 
forced from them this act of clemency, which, from that 
time, gained me the confidence of the royalists disposed 
to submit to government. 

My two instructions to the bishops and prefects which 
were published at this time, produced likewise a great 
sensation upon the public. They were the more re- 
marked, as I spoke a language in them which had fallen 
into disuse ; that of reason and toleratioFi, which I have 
always considered to be very compatible with the poli- 
cy of a government strong enough to be just. These 
two instructions were, however, differently interpreted. 
In the opinion of some they bore the st^mp of that fore- 
sight and of that profound art of influencing the hu- 
man heart, so essential to a statesman ; according to 
others, they tended to substitute morality for religion, 
and the police for justice. But the supporters of this 
last opinion did not reflect upon the circumstances and 
times in which we were placed. My two circulars are 
still extant; they are in print; let them be read once 
again, and it will be seen that some courage, and some 
fixed principles, were necessary to render the doctrines 
and sentiments therein expressed, palatable. 

Thus, salutary modifications and a more certain tran- 
quillity were the first pledges oflered by the new go- 
vernment to til*' expectations of the French. They 
applauded the sudden elevation of the illustrious gene- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 99 

ral, who, in the administration of the state, manifested 
equal vigour and prudence. With the exception of the 
demagogues, each party persuaded itself that this new 
revolution would turn to its advantage. Such especial- 
ly was the dream of the royalists; they saw in Bona- 
parte the Monk of the expiring revolution, a dream 
which was particularly favourable to the views of the 
first consul. Fatigued and disgusted with the revolu- 
tion, the moderate party itself confounding its views 
with ^those of the counter-revolutionists, openly desired 
the modification of the republican regime, and its amal- 
gamation with a mixed monarchy. But the time had 
not yet arrived for transforming the democracy into a 
republican monarchy ; for this could only be obtained 
by the fusion of all parties, which was still very far ofi*. 
The new administration, on the contrary, favoured a 
kind of moral re-action agrainst the revolution and the 
severity of its laws. The writmgs most m vogue tend- 
ed to royalism. To judge from the clamours of the 
republicans, we were rapidly approaching it. These 
clamours were accredited by imprudent royalists, 
and by works which recalled the recollection and the 
distresses of the Bourbons — Irma^ for example, which 
at that time was the rage in Paris, because it was sup- 
posed to contain the recital of the affecting misfortunes 
of Madame Royale.* 

* The history of Irma appeared under the form of an allegory. 
The scenes were laid in Asia, and all the names were changed ; 
but the key to them was easily found by anagrams. This able 
manner of publishing the history of the misfortunes of the house 
of Bourbon, excited curiosity in a high degree, and warmly in= 
terested the public. The work was devoured ; by following the 
events and arriving at the catastrophes, the names were easily 
guessed at. Under a false appearance of liberty, the first consul 
permitted every thing to be published respecting the revolution 
that could disparage it ; then successively appeared the memoirs 
of the Marquis de Bouille, of Bertrand de Moleville, of the Princess 
Lamballe, those of the Mesdames of France, the History of Madame 
Ehzabeth, the Cimetiere de la Madeleine, ^c. But this toleration 
ceased as soon as the first consul found himself securely seated, as 
will be seen in the sequel of these memoirs. — J^ote of the Editor, 



100 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

At any other time, the police would have caused a 
similar work to be seized ; but I was obliged to sacri- 
fice public opinion to reasons of state, and these reasons 
required that the royalists should be deceived. The 
maxims and interests of the revolution had, however, 
still too much life to be injured with impunity. I 
thought it my duty to cool the hopes of the counter- 
revolutionists, and to raise the courage of the republi- 
cans. I observed to the consul that he still acted a 
part of great delicacy ; that having manoeuvred with 
men sincerely attached to the republican forms, and to 
the liberties of the public, and the army itself having 
imbibed the same sentiments, he could not separate 
himself without danger, either from his own party or 
the army ; besides that, it was necessary for him to 
quit a provisionary, and create for himself a permanent, 
establishment. 

The attention of the government had just been en- 
gaged at this period in the preparatory labours of two 
intermediary legislative commissions. That of the five 
hundred was conducted by Lucicn, Boulay, Jacquemi- 
mot, and Daunou ; that of the ancients by Lemercier, 
Lebrun, and Regnier. The man of most ability was 
unquestionably Lebrun ; Bonaparte desired his advice, 
and received it with deference. The object was to 
discuss in grand conference the new project of social 
organization which Sieyes was anxious to present, in 
place of the constitution of the year III., whose obse- 
quies he was eager to superintend. Sieyes, with whose 
real thoughts Bonaparte was acquainted, affected great 
mystery ; ho said he had nothing ready ; thai he had 
not time to arrange his papers, lie played olV silence; 
in this he resembled those fashionable authors, who, 
eaten up with the desire manifested by the public of 
reading their works, insist upon being first entreated by 
coquetry and fashion, before yielding to the prayers of 
a curious and oftentimes satirical public. I was com- 
missioned to jjeiiotratc his mystery, and 1 employed 
Jl^al, who, using much address, with an appearance of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 101 

great good-nature, discovered the bases of Sleyes' pro- 
ject, by getting Chenier, one of his confidants, to chat- 
ter, upon rising from a dinner at which wine and other 
intoxicating liquors had not been spared. 

Upon this information, a secret council was held, to 
which I was called ; Bonaparte, Cambaceres, Lebrun, 
Lucien, Joseph, Berthier, Real, Regnault, and Roederer 
Avere present. There we discussed on counter-projects 
and the conduct to be pursued bj Bonaparte in the ge- 
neral conferences which were impatiently awaited. 

At length, towards the middle of December, the three 
consuls and the two legislative commissions assembled 
in Bonaparte's apartment. The conferences commenc- 
ed at nine o'clock in the evening, and were prolonged 
far into the night. Daunou was charged with the draw- 
ing up of them. Sieyes, at the first sitting, did not ut- 
ter a word ; at length, pressed on all sides, he yielded, 
and then gave several detached parts of his theories, 
inclosed in separate papers. With the tone of an ora^ 
cle, he successively explained to us the bases of his fa- 
vourite constitution. It created tribunals composed of 
one hundred members, who were to discuss the laws; 
a legislative body more numerous, whose province was 
to receive or reject them by vote in an oral discussion; 
and lastly, a senate composed of members elected for 
life, and charged with the important office of watching 
over the laws and the constitution of the state. All 
these principles, against which Bonaparte made no se- 
rious objections, were successively adopted. As to the 
government, he gave it the drawing up of laws, and for 
this purpose created a council of state, charged with 
perfecting and improving the projects and regulations 
of the public administration. It was known, that the 
government of Sieyes Avas to terminate in a pinnacle, in 
a species of monarchical shaft, erected upon republican 
foundations; an idea to which he had been for a long 
time attached ; an attention and even impatient curiosi- 
ty was manifested, till at last he discovered the capital 
of his constitutional edifice. What wa^ Sieyes' propo- 



102 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

sal ? A grand elector, chosen for life by the conserva- 
tive senate, sitting at Versailles, representing the majo- 
rity of the nation, with a revenue of six millions, a guard 
of three thousand men, and having no other functions 
than to nominate two consuls, one for peace, and another 
for war, both independent of each other in the exercise 
of their functions. And this grand elector, in case of a 
bad choice, could be absorbed by the senate, which was 
invested with the right of drawing back into its own 
body, without explaining its reasons, every depositary of 
public authority, the two consuls and the grand elector 
not excepted; the latter having become a member of 
the senate, would fto longer have any direct share in the 
operations of government. 

Here Bonaparte could no longer contain himself; 
rising up and bursting into a loud laugh, he took the pa- 
per from the hands of Sieyes, and, with one dash of his 
pen, sabred what ho called metaphysical nonsense. 
Sieyes, who generally yielded to, instead of resisting, 
objections, defended, nevertheless, his grand elector ; 
and said, that after all, a king oup-ht to be nothing else. 
Bonaparte replied, with much warmth, that he mistook 
the shadow for the substance, the abuse for the princi- 
ple ; that there could not be in the government any ac- 
tive power without an independence founded upon, and 
defined by, prerogative. He also made several other 
preconcerted objections, to which Sieyes replied very 
lamely ; and becoming gradually more warm, he finish- 
ed by addressing his colleague thus : — " How could you 
have supposed, citizen Sieyes, that a man of honour, of 
talent, and of some papacity in affairs, would ever con- 
sent to be notliing but a hog fattened up by a few mil- 
lions in the royal chateau of Versailles?" Amused by 
this sally, the members of the conference began to 
laugh ; and Sieyes, who had already testified indecision, 
remauicd confounded, and saw his gra)id elector sink 
never to rise again. 

It is certain that vSieycs concealed some deep projects 
m this ridiculous form of government, and that had it 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 103 

been adopted, he would soon have remained sole master. 
It was he doubtless whom the senate was to have nomi- 
nated grand elector^ and he would have appointed Bona- 
parte consul for war, sure of absorbing him at a conve- 
nient opportunity. By this means, every thing would 
remain in his own hands, and it would have been easy 
for him, by causing himself to be absorbed, to have 
called a similar personage to the head of the govern- 
ment, ^nd to have transformed, by a transition artfully 
prepared, an elective executive power into an hereditary 
royalty, in favour of any dynasty it was necessary for 
hinv to establish for the interests of a revolution of 
which he was the supreme pontiff. 

But his circuitous and suspicious proceedings brought 
against him the determined resistance of the consul, 
which he ought to have expected ; and thence the 
overthrow of all his projects. He had not, however, 
neglected to secure, as will shortly be seen, a retirement 
proof against all the shafts of adverse fortune. 

It was not sufficient to do away with the project of 
Sieyes ; it was necessary, besides, that the adherents 
and intimate advisers of the General consul should be 
brought into the government, in order to make them- 
selves master of the supreme power. All was ready. 
But notwithstanding the personal retreat of Sieyes, the 
party who were attached to his opinions returned to 
the charge, and, in despair at their cause, proposed the 
adoption of forms purely republican. To this was 
opposed the creation of a president, similar to the plan 
of the United States, for ten years, free in his choice of 
ministers, of his council of state, and all the members 
of the administration. Others, also, who were gained 
over, advised to disguise the sole magistrateship of the 
president ; for which purpose they offered to conciliate 
conflicting opinions, by forming a government of three 
consuls, of which two should only be advisers as occa- 
sion required (conseillers necessaires.) But when they 
were called upon to decide, that there should be a first 
consul, invested with supreme power, having the right 



104 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of nominating to, and dismissing from all appointments, 
and that the two consuls should only have consulting 
voices, then objections arose. Chazal, Daunou, Courtois, 
Chenier, and many others besides, insisted upon consti- 
tutional limits; they represented, that if General Bona- 
parte should take upon himself the supreme magistracy, 
without a previous election, it would denote the ambi- 
tion of an usurper, and would justify the opinion of those 
who had asserted, that the events of the 18th Brumaire 
were solely intended for his own aggrandizement. Mak- 
ing a last eiTort to prevent it, they oli'ered him the 
dignity of generalissimo, with the powder of making 
peace and war, and of treating with foreign powers. 
" I will remain at Paris," replied Bonaparte, with viva- 
city and biting his nails ; " I will remain at Paris ; I am 
consul." Then Chenier, breaking silence, spoke of 
liberty, of the republic, of the necessity of putting some 
restrictions upon power, insisting, with much force and 
courage, upon the adoption of the measure of absorption 
into the senate. " That shall not be ?" cried Bonaparte, 
in a rage, and stamping with his feet, " we will rather 
wade to our knees in blood !" At these words, which 
changed into a scene a deliberation hitherto kept within 
the bounds ot" moderation, every one remained speech- 
less; and the majority rising placed the power not into 
the hands of three consuls, the second and third having 
consulting voices, but to a single one nominated for three 
years, rc-cligible, prumulgating Inws, ajipoindng and dis- 
missing at his will all the members of the executive 
power, making peace and war, and, in fact, nominating 
iiiinself. In fact, Boiiiiparte, by avoiding to make a 
previous inslilution of the senate, would not even con- 
descend to be first consul by the act of the senators. 

Whether from spite or pride, Sieyes refused to be 
one of the accessary consuls ; this was ex[)ected, and 
the choice which was already made by Bonaparte in 
jidio, fell upon Cambaceres and Ijobrun. who dillcred 
but very little in politics. The one, a member of the 
convention, having voted for the dcatli of the king, had 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 105 

embraced the revolution in its principles as well as its 
consequences ; but, like a cold egotist, the other, 
brought up in the maxims of ministerial despotism, 
under the Chancellor Maupeou, whose intimate secre- 
tary he Avas, caring little about theories, attached him- 
self solely to the action of power ; the one, a powerless 
defender of the principles of the revolution and of its 
interests, was inclined for the return of distinctions, 
honours, and abuses ; the other was a warmer, and a 
juster advocate of social order, of morals, and of public 
faith. Both were enlightened, and men of probity, 
although avaricious. 

As' to Sieyes, nominated a senator, he concurred with 
Cambaceres and Lebrun in organizing the senate, of 
which he was first president. As a reward for his 
docility in resigning the helm of affairs into the hands of 
the general consul, he was voted the estate of Crosne, 
a magnificent present of a million of francs, independent 
of twenty-five thousand livres a year, as senator, and 
exclusive of Ins pot de vin, as director, which amounted 
to six hundred thousand francs, and which he called his 
poire pour la soif. From that time, fallen from all con- 
sideration, and sunk in secret sensuality, he was politi- 
cally dead. 

A decree of the 20th November ordained that the 
two preceding legislative councils should assemble of 
their own right in February 1800. In order to elude 
with more effect this decree, the execution of which 
would have compromised the consular dignity, a new 
constitution was submitted to the acceptance of the 
French people. There was no longer any question of 
collecting them in primary assemblies by consecrating 
again the democratic principle ; but of opening registers 
in all the government departments, and public offices- 
registers in which the citizens were to inscribe their 
votes. These votes amounted to three millions and 
more ; and I can affirm that there was no deception in 
the computation, so favourably received was the revo- 
lution de Brumaire by the great majority of Frenchmen. 
14 



106 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Nine times, in less than seven years, since the fall of 
the royal authority, the nation had seen the helm pass 
from iiand to hand, and the vessel of state dashed upon 
new shoals. But this once the pilot inspired more uni- 
versal contidence. He was considered to be steady 
and skilful, and hi^ government, in other respects, assum- 
ed the forms of durability. 

The day on which Bonaparte declared himself first- 
consul, and was recognised in that character, he judged 
that his reign was substantially to date from that period, 
and he did not disguise that opinion in the internal action 
of his government. Republicanism was observed to 
lose every day some portion of its gloomy austerity, and 
conversions in favour of unity of power were seen to 
multiply. 

The consul induced us to believe, and we willingly 
persuaded ourselves, that this necessary unity in the 
government would cause no encroachment on the re- 
publican structure ; and, in fact, up to the period of the 
battle of Marengo, the forms of the republic still sub- 
sisted ; no person dared to stray from the language and 
the spirit of that government. Bonaparte, when first- 
consul, constrained himself to appear in no other light 
than as magistrate of the people and chief of the army. 
He assumed the reins of government on the 25th of 
December, and his name was from that time inscribed 
at the head of all public acts ; an innovation unknown 
since the birth of the republic. Till then the chief 
magistrates of the state had inhabited the palace of the 
Luxembourg ; none of them had yet dared to invade 
the abode of the kings. Bonaparte, with more assu- 
rance, quitted the Luxembourg and went instate, accom- 
panied by great military display, to occupy the Tuileries, 
which became from that time the residence of the 
first-consul. The senate held its sittings at the Luxem- 
bourg, and the tribunal at the Palais Royal. 

This magnificence pleased the nation, which approv- 
ed of being rej)resentod in a mnnncr more suited to her 
dignity. Splendour and etiquette resumed a portion of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 107 

their empire. Paris beheld its circles, its balls, and 
sumptuous entertainments revived. Observant of forms, 
punctilious even in matters of public decency, Bona- 
parte, breaking through the ancient connexions of Jose- 
phine, and even his own, excluded from the palace all 
females of decried or suspected morals who had figured 
in the most brilliant circles, as well as in the intrigues 
carried on at the Luxembourg under the reign of the 
directory. 

The commencement of a new reign is almost always 
auspicious; it was the same with the consulship, which 
was distinguished by the reform of a great number of 
abuses, by acts of wisdom and humanity, and by the sys- 
tem of justice and moderation which the consuls adopt- 
ed. The recall of a portion of the deputies, against 
whom were levelled the decrees of the 19th Fructidor, 
was an act of wisdom, decision, and equity. The same 
may be said of the measure for closing the list of 
emigrants. The consuls permitted the erasure of a 
great number of the distinguished members of the con- 
stituent assembly. I enjoyed the satisfaction of recall- 
ing and erasing from the fatal list the celebrated Ca- 
zales, as well as his old colleague Malouet, a man of 
real talent and strict integrity. As well as myself, the 
ex-elector Malouet had formerly taken his degree at 
the Oratoire, and I entertained for him an extreme re- 
gard. It will be seen that he repaid my friendship by 
a persevering and sincere return. 

The re-organization of the judicial system, and the 
establishment of prefectures, equally distinguished that 
auspicious opening of the consulship, of which the com- 
position of the new authorities felt the beneficial re- 
sults. But, to confess the truth, this flattering picture 
was soon over-shadowed. " It is not my intention to 
govern in the character of a beau magistrate," said Bo- 
naparte to me one evening ; " the pacification of the 
west does not proceed ; there is too much license and 
boasting in the journals." The awaking moment was 
terrible. The execution of young Toustain, that of the 



lOa xMEMOlRS OF FOUCIIE. 

Count De Frotte and his companions in arms, the su|> 
pression of a portion of the journals, the threatening 
style of the last proclamations, while they chilled both 
republicans and royalists with dismay, dissipated through 
nearly the whole of France, the fond hopes which had 
been cherished of an equitable and humane govern- 
ment. 1 caused the first-consul to feel the necessity of 
dispersing these clouds. He relaxed a little; gained 
over the emigrants by favours and employments; re- 
stored the churches to the Catholic worship; kept the 
republicans either in a state of minority or dispersion, 
but without persecuting them : he proclaimed himself, 
at the same time, the scourge of contractors. 

All the sources of credit were cither dried up or de- 
stroyed at the accession of the consul by the effect of 
the disorders, the dilapidations, and the profusion which 
had crept into all the branches of the public adminis- 
tration and revenue. It was requisite to create new 
resources in order to meet the war and all the depart- 
ments of service. Twelve millions were borrowed of 
the commercial interest of Paris ; twenty-four millions 
were expected from the sale of the domams of the 
house of Orange ; and, at length, one hundred and iifty 
millions of bons de rescription de rachat de rentes, were 
put into circulation. In decreeing these measures, the 
iirst-consul perceived how didicult it would be for him 
to depart from the ruinous control of the contractors ! 
he had a perfect horror of them. The following note, 
of which he subsequently remitted me a copy, preju- 
diced and singularly exasperated him against our princi- 
pal bankers and brokers. This is the note : — 

" ^J'he individuals whose names are subscribed, are 
masters of the public fortune ; they give an impulse to 
the course of |)iil)lic stock, and each of them possesses 
about a hundred millions of private capital ; they, more- 
over, dispose of twenty-four millions of credit; namely, 
Armand Stguiii, Vanderberg, Ijauiioy, Collot, Hingucr- 
lot, Ouvrard, the brothers Michel, Bastide, Marion, and 
Recamicr. The partisans of Ifallcr the Swiss have 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 109 

triumphed, because that Swiss, whose measures of 
finance the first consul did not choose to adopt, predict- 
ed the fail which has at this moment taken place." 

Bonaparte could not support the idea of fortunes so 
suddenly made and so gigantic; it seemed as ii he fear- 
ed to be subjected to them. He regarded them gene- 
rally as the disgracftful results ol public dilaj^idation 
and usury. He had only hcen able to triuutj i. cii the 
18th of Brumaire, with the mcney which Collot had 
lent him ; and he was humiliated by the reflection. 
Joseph Bonaparte himself only obtained possession of 
Morfonlaine with the two millions lent him bj Collot. 
" Yes," said he to his brother, "you wished to play the 
great man with other people's money ; but the whole 
weight of the usury will tall upon me." 

I had much trouble, as well as the Count Lt brun, to 
mitigate his indignation against bankers and brokers, 
and to divert him from the violent measures which from 
that time he purposed instituting against them. He 
comprehended little of the theory of public credit; and 
it was obvious that he had a secret inclination to con- 
duct the finance de|)artment amongst us, on the system 
of the averages adopted in Egypt, Turkey, and through- 
out the East. He was, however, con^pclled to re- 
cur to Vanderberg in order to open the campaign ; 
to him he committed the charge of the necessary loan. 
His prejudices extetided to all the secret parts of the 
government. I was always the person to whom he as- 
signed the duty of verifying or controlling the secret 
notes which intriguers and place-hunters never failed 
transmitting to him. Some idea of the delicacy of my 
functions may be formed from that circumstance; I was 
the only one capable of correcting his prejudices or of 
triumphing over them, by placing daily under his eye, 
by means of my police bulletins, the expression of all 
kinds of opinions and ideas, and the summary of such 
secret circumstances, a knowledge of which interested 
the safety and tranquillity of the state. In order not 
to exasperate him, I took care to make a separate sum- 



1 10 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

mary of all which might have mortified him in his con- 
ferences and communications with the two other con- 
suls. My communications with him were too frequent 
not to be of a ticklish character. But I maintained a 
tone of truth and frankness tempered with zeal, and 
that zeal was sincere. 1 found in that unique person- 
age precisely all that was wanted in order to regulate 
and uiaiutain that unity of power in the executive au- 
thority, without which every thing would have fallen 
back into disorder and chaos. But I found also that he 
possessed violent passions and a natural tendency to des- 

Fotism, derived from his character and martial habits, 
flattered myself with being able successfully to re- 
strain it by the dikes of prudence and reason, and I 
pretty often succeeded beyond my hopes. 

At this period, Bonaparte had no further cause to 
fear any material opposition in the interior of France, 
except that of some royalist bands which still retained 
their arms in the departments of the east, and chiefly 
in Mcrbihan. In Europe his power was neither so well 
consolidated nor so undisputed. He was perfectly 
aware, and before-hand, that he could only strike its 
roots deeply, except by new victories. Of these he was 
therefore greedy. 

But France was then emerging from a crisis; her 
finances were exhausted ; if anarchy had been quelled, 
it was not so with royalism ; and the republican spirit 
was fermenting secretly beyond the sphere of power. 
As to the French armies, notwithstanding their recent 
successes in Holland and Switzerland, they were still in 
no condition to resume the oflensive. The whole of 
Italy was lost ; even the Apennines were not able to 
prescribe bounds to the soldiers of Austria. 

What then did Bonaparte do? By the excellent ad- 
vice of his minister for foreign afl'airs, he sagaciously 
availed himself of the passions of the Emperor Paul the 
First, in order to detach him entirely from the coali- 
tion ; he next made his ap|)carance on the ostensible 
stage of European diplomacy, by publishing his famous 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. Ill 

letter to the King of England ; it contained overtures 
offered in an uncustomary form. In that circumstance, 
the first consul foresaw the double advantage of obtain- 
ing credit for his pacific intentions, and of persuading 
France in the event of the refusal which he expected, 
that in order to conquer that peace which Avas the ob- 
ject of all his desires, it was necessary to supply him 
with gold, steel, and men. 

When one day, on issuing from his private cabinet 
council, he told me, with an air of inspiration, that he 
felt assured of re-conquering Italy in three months, I 
was in the first instance struck with the seeming auda- 
city of the proposal, and nevertheless was induced to 
give it credit. Carnot, who, a short time previously, 
had become minister of war, perceived as well as I, that 
there was one thing which Bonaparte understood above 
all others, and that was the practical science of war. 
But when Bonaparte positively told me, that he under- 
stood, before his departure for the army,' that all the 
departments of the West were tranquil, and pointed 
out to me measures connected with the subject, coin- 
ciding with my own views, I not only recognized in him 
the character of a warrior, but also of an able politician ; 
and I seconded his exertions with a good fortune, for 
which he manifested his obligations. We were, how- 
ever, not able to break up the royalist league, except 
by means of the great primum mobile, subornation. In 
this respect, Bernia the curate, and two viscountesses, 
desirably assisted in favouring the opinion that Bona- 
parte was exerting himself to replace the Bourbons on 
the throne. The bait took so well, that the king him- 
self, then at Mittau, deceived by his correspondents in 
Paris, conceived that the favourable moment was come 
for him to claim his crown ; and transmitted to the con- 
sul Lebrun, by means of the Abbe de Montesquieu, his 
secret agent, a letter addressed to Bonaparte, wherein, 
in the most mincing terms, he endeavoured to convince 
him of the honour he would acquire by replacing him 
on the throne of his ancestors. " I can do nothing for 



112 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

France without you," said that prince, " and you can- 
not contribute to the welfare of France without me. 
Hasten, then, to undertake the task." 

At the same time the Count d'Artois sent the Du- 
chess de Guiche, a lady of great attraction and talent, 
from London, in order, on his side, to open a negotia- 
tion of a parallel description, by means of Josephine, 
who was considered the tutelary angel of the royalists 
and emigrants. She obtained some interviews, and I 
was informed of them by Josephine herself, who, in 
conformity to our mutual treaty, cemented by a thou- 
sand francs per day, informed me of all that passed in 
the interior of the chateau. 

I confess that I was mortified in not receiving from 
Bonaparte any instruction respecting circumstances so 
essential. I therefore went to work ; I employed ex- 
traordinary means ; and I learnt in a positive manner 
the proceedings of the Abbe de Montesquiou with the 
consul Lebrun. I made it the subject of a memorial, 
which I addressed to the first-consul, in wliich I refer- 
red equally to that mission and the proceedings of the 
Duchess de Guiche. I represented to him, that, in 
sanctioning such negotiations, he gave occasion to sus- 
pect that he sought to secure for himself in case of a 
reverse of fortune, a brilliant means both of fortune and 
security ; but that he miscalculated greatly, if, indeed, 
it were possible for a spirit so magnanimous as his, to 
stoop to so erroneous a policy ; that he was, essentially, 
the man of the revolution, and could be no other; and 
that the Bourbons could by no chance re-ascend the 
throne, except by reachino; it over his dead body. 

This memorial, which I took the pains to compile 
and write myself, proved to him that nothing which 
concerned the secrets and safety of the state could es- 
cape my notice. It produced the result which I ex- 
pected ; that is to say, it made a vivid uuprrssion on 
the mind of Bonaparte. The Duchess de Guiche was 
dismissed with an order to repair without delay to 
Jjondon: and the consul Lebrun was taunted with \\u 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 113 

fact of having received a letter from the king through 
an underhanded channel. My credit from that time as- 
sumed the solidity which befitted the eminence and 
importance of my functions. 

Other scenes were about to commence ; but they 
were scenes of blood and carnage on different fields of 
contention. Moreau, who had passed the Rhine on 
the 25th April, had already defeated the Austrians in 
three encounters before the 10th May ; when Bona- 
parte, between the 16th and 20th, in an enterprise 
Avorthy of Hannibal, passed the Great St. Bernard, at 
the head of the entire of the army of reserve. Sur- 
prising the enemy which, either through negligence or 
delusion, persisted, on the Var and toward Genoa, in 
invading the frontier of France, he directed his march 
upon Milan, through the valley of Aoste and Piedmont, 
and arrived in time to cut off the communication of the 
Austrian army, commanded by Melas. The Austrian, 
disconcerted, concentrated himself beneath the cannon 
of Alexandria, at the conflux of the Tanaro and the 
Bormida, and, after some partial defeats, courageously 
advanced to confront the first consul, who, on his side, 
was marching in the same direction. 

The decisive crisis was approaching, and kept the 
public mind in suspense. Feelings and opinions were in 
a state of ferment in Paris, especially among the two 
extreme parties, popular and royalist. The moderate 
republicans were not less moved. They felt a kind of 
misgiving in seeing at the head of the government, a 
general more disposed to employ the cannon and the 
sabre than the cap of liberty or the scales of justice. 
The malcontents cherished the hope, that the individu- 
al whom they already called the Cromwell of France, 
would be arrested in his course, and that owing his ele- 
vation to war, he would owe to war his destruction. 

Things were in this state, when, on the evening of 

the 20th June, two commercial expresses arrived with 

news frorathe army, announcing that on the 14th instant, 

at five o'clock in the evening, the battle fought near 

15 



*J14 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Alexandria had turned to the disadvantage of the con- 
sular army, which was retreating ; but that the contest 
was still continued. This inteUigence diffused with the 
rapidity of hghtning throughout all such classes as were 
interested, produced upon the public mind the same 
cflTect as the electric spark does upon the human body. 
Meetings were held, assemblies called ; visits were 
made to Chenicr, to Courtois, to the coterie of Stael ; 
some hurried to the house of Sieyes, others to that 
of Carnot. The common pretence was, that it was 
necessary to withdraw the endangered republic from 
the gripe of the Corsican ; that it was necessary to 
re-model it on a wiser and freer system ; that it was 
requisite to have a chief-magistrate, but not an arro- 
gant dictator, nor a mere emperor of the soldiers. Eve- 
ry age and every thought were bent on the minister of 
war, Carnot. 

1 was at once informed of the news, and of the pub- 
h'c ferment which it occasioned. I hastened instantly 
to the two consuls, and 1 found them in a state of con- 
sternation ; I immediately applied myself to the task of 
raising their fainting resolution. But I confess, that on 
returning to my own house, my brain stood in need of 
all its energy. My salon was full of company ; I took 
care not to show myself; at length, I was besieged 
even in my closet. In vain I gave orders to be denied 
to all but my intimate friends ; the heads of the file 
penetrated into ray fastness. I fatigued myself to 
death in telling every body that the news was exagge- 
rated ; that probably it was a result of stock-jobbing ; 
that, moreover, Bonaparte had always j)ciformcd niira- 
cles on the field of battle. " Above all things," I ad- 
ded, " wait ; let us have no caprice, no imprudence, no 
bitter reflections, and no overt and hostile acts.'' 

The next day an express arrived from the first-con- 
sul, loaded with the laurels of victory ; the disenchant- 
ment of one party was incapable of siiiipressmg the uni- 
versal intoxication. The battle of ]\jareni;o, like that 
of Actium, enabled our young Triumvir to triumph, and 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 115 

raised him to the pinnacle of power; a Triumvir, equal- 
ly fortunate, but not so discreet as the Octavius of 
Rome. He departed in the character of the first ma- 
gistrate of a nation, sliil free, and he was about to re- 
appear in the character of a conqueror. It, in fact, 
seemed as if he were less the conqueror of Italy at Ma- 
rengo than of France. From this period is to be dated 
the first essay of that disgusting and servile flattery 
with which all the magistrates and public authorities 
conspired to turn his head during the fifteen years of 
his predooiinance. One of his councillors of state, nam- 
ed Rcederer, was observed to apotheosize his new mas- 
ter, and apply to him, in a public journal, the well- 
known verse of Virgil : 

Deus nobis haec otia fecit. 

I foresaw^ all the fatal consequences that this adulatory 
tendency (perfectly unworthy of a great people), would 
produce on France and on her chief. But the intoxi- 
cation was at its height, and the triumph was complete. 
At length, in the night between the 2d and 3d of July 
the conqueror arrived. 

I observed, from the first moment, an appearance of 
moroseness amd constraint on his countenance. That 
very evening, at the hour devoted to business, he dart- 
ed a gloomy look at me, on entering his closet, and 
broke out in ejaculations : — " What ? so ! I was thought to 
be lost, and an experiment was about to be again made 
on a Committee of public safely. I know every thing — 
and these were the men whom 1 saved and spared. Do 
they take me for Louis XVI.? Let them try, and find 
the difference. There must be no more deception ; a 
battle lost in my case is a battle gained. I fear nothing; 
I will crush all those ungrateful men and traitors into 
dust. — I am able to save France in spite of factions 
and disturbers." I represented to him that there had 
only been an access of the republican fever excited by 
an inauspicious report, a report that 1 had contradicted, 
and the ill effects of which I had restrained; that mj 



il6 » MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

memorial to the two consuls, a copy of which I had 
transQiitted to hira, would enable him to appreciate, at 
its true value, that diminutive movement of fermenta- 
tion and misgiving; and that, in fine, the denouement 
was so magnificent, and the pubhc satisfaction so gene- 
ral, that a iew clouds, which only rendered the brillian- 
cy of the picture more dazzling by contrast, might easily 
admit of toleration, — " But you do not tell me all," re- 
plied he ; " was there not a design to place Carnot at 
the head of the government ? Carnot who suffered 
himself to be mystified on the IHth of Fructidor, who 
is incapable of maintaining his authority for two months, 
and who would inevitably be sent to perish at Sinnama- 
ry." I affirmed that the conduct of Carnot had been unim- 
peacIii;blG : and I remarked that it would be very hard 
to render him responsible for the extravagant projects 
engendered by sickly brains, and of which he, Carnot, 
had not the least idea. 

He was silerit; but the impression had struck deep. 
He did not forgive Carnot, who, some time after, found 
himself under the necessity of resigning the port-folio 
of war. It is probable that 1 should have shared his 
anticipated disgrace, had not Cambaceres and Lebrun 
been witnesses of the circumspection of my conduct and 
the sincerity of my zeal. 

Becoming more jealous as he became more powerful, 
the first consul armed himself with precautionary mea- 
sures, and surrounded himself with a military equipage. 
His |)rejudices and distrusts were more especially di- 
rected against those whom he called the perverse, whe- 
ther they wished to preserve their attachment to the 
popular party, or dissipated their strength in lamenta- 
tions at the sight of dying liberty. I proposed mild 
measures in order to brinir back the malcontents within 
the circle of government ; I demanded means of gaining 
the chiefs of the party by pensions, gifts, and places; 
I received carte hUinclic with respect to the emj)loyment 
of pecuniary means; but my credit did not extend to 
the distribution of public employments and rewards. I 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 117 

saw clearly that the first consul persisted in the system 
of only admitting the republicans into his counsels and 
high employments in the form of a minority, and that 
he wished to maintain in full force the partizans of mo- 
narchy and absolute power. 1 had scarcely credit suf- 
ficient to nominate some half dozen prefects. Bona- 
parte did not like the Tribunat, because it contained a 
nucleus of staunch republicans. It was well known that 
he more especially dreaded the zealots and enthusiasts, 
known by the name of anarchists, a set of men always- 
ready to be employed as instruments of plots and revolu- 
tions. His distrust and his alarms were inflamed by the 
persons who surrounded him, and who urged him towards 
monarchy ; such as Portalis, Lebrun, Cambaceres, 
Clarke, Champagny, Fleurieu, Duchatel, Jollivet, Bene- 
zech, Emmery, Rcederer, Cretet, Regnier, Chaptal, 
Dufresne, and many others. To this effect must be 
added the secret reports and clandestine corresponden- 
ces of men employed by him, which were couched in 
the same spirit, and swam with the torrent of the pre- 
vailing opinion. In these I was not spared ; I was ex- 
posed to the most malevolent insinuations ; my system 
of police was therein often run down and denounced. I 
had Lucien against me, who was then minister of the 
interior, and who had also his private police. Sometimes 
obliged to bear the reproaches of the first consul about 
facts which he believed concealed in obscurity, he sus- 
pected me of keeping spies upon him in order to depre- 
ciate him in my reports. I had a former order to keep 
nothing concealed, whether popular reports or the gos- 
sip of the salons. The result was, that Lucien making 
abusive use of his credit and his position, playing the 
part of a debauchee, seducing wives from their hus- 
bands, and trafficking in licenses for the exportation of 
corn, was often an object of rumours and inuendoes. In 
the character of head of the police, it Avas not proper 
for me to disguise the importance it was of to the mem- 
bers of the first consul's family to be irreproachable and 
pure in the eyes of the public. 



118 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

The nature of the conflict in which I was thus en- 
gaged may be conceived; luckily, 1 had Josephine in 
my interest ; Duroc was not againstjrae, and the private 
secretary was devoted to my views. This personage, 
who was replete with ability and talent, but whose 
greediness of gain very shortly caused his disgrace, al- 
ways exhibited so much cupidity that there is no occa- 
sion to name him in order to point him out. Having 
the control over the papers and secrets of his master, 
he discovered that I spent 100,000 francs monthly, for 
the purpose of incessantly watching over the existence 
of the first consul. The idea came into his head to 
make me pay for such intelligence as he might supply 
me, in order to furnish means of accomplishing the aim 
I had in view. He sought me, and offered to inform 
me exactly of all the proceedings of Bonaparte for 
25,000 francs per month; and he made me this offer as 
a means of saving 900,000 francs per annum. I took 
care not to let this opportunity slip, of having the pri- 
vate secretary of the chief of the state in my pay ; that 
chief whom it was so requisite for me to follow step by 
step, in order to know what he had done, and what he 
was about to do. The proposal of the secretary was 
accepted, and he every month very punctually received 
a blank order for 25,000 francs, the promised sum, 
which he was to draw out of the treasury. On my side, 
I had full reason to congratulate myself on his dexterity 
and accuracy. But I took care not to starve the funds 
which I employed, in order to protect the person of 
Bonaparte from any unforeseen attack. The palace 
alone di'ied up more than half the resource of my 
100,000 francs, which were monthly available. In fact, 
I was by that means very accurately apprized of all 
that was important for me to know ; and I was enabled, 
rccij)rocalIy, to contrul the information of the secretary, 
by that of Josephine, and that of the latter by the sec- 
retary, f was strono;cr than all my enemies put to- 
gether. But what woie the next measures resorted to, 
in order to destroy me? I was formally accused to the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 119 

first consul of protecting republicans and demagogues ; 
and the accusers went so far as to point out General 
Parain, who was personally attached to me, of being 
the intermediate agent whom I employed for the pur- 
pose of supplying information to the anarchists, and of 
distributing money among them. The real fact is, that 
I employed all my ministerial influence, in order to 
counteract the designs of zealots ; to appease passions ; 
to divert them from the means of combining any plot 
against the chief magistrate ; and that many individuals 
were greatly indebted to me for salutary assistance and 
admonition. In doing this, I only availed myself of the 
latitude allowed me by my functions in the superior po- 
lice ; I thought, and I still think, that it is better to 
prevent criminal attempts, than subsequently to exert 
the power of punishing them. But the means of ren- 
dering me suspected finally succeeded in exciting the dis- 
trust of the first consul. In a short time, he found pleas 
to limit mj^ functions, by especially charging the prefect 
of police with the duty of superintending the mal- 
contents. That prefect was Dubois ; an oFd lawyer, 
avaricious and blindly devoted to power; a magistrate 
before the revolution, who, after having adroitly insinu- 
ated himself into the bureau central, got himself appoint- 
ed prefect of police, after the 18th of Brumaire. In 
order to obtain a little private administration for him- 
self, he threw difficulties in my way in the matter of 
the secret fund ; and I was obliged to give him a large 
bonus out of the curee des Jeux ; under pretext that mo- 
ney was the sinew of all political police. But afterwards 
I succeeded in detecting him in the employment of the 
funds of his budget, which were levied from the base 
and digraceful vices which dishonour the metropolis. 

The machiavelian maxim, divide et impera, hjaving 
prevailed, there were shortly no less than four distinct 
systems of police ; the military police of the palace, con- 
ducted by the aides-de-camp and by Duroc ; the police of 
the inspectors o{ ge^idarmerie ; the police of the prefec- 
ture, managed by Dubois; and my own. As to the po- 



120 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

lice of the home department, 1 lost no time in abolish- 
ing it, as will shortly be seen. Accordingly, the consul 
daily received four bulletins of separate police establish- 
ments, derived from ditTerent quarters, and which he 
was enabled to compare together, without mentioning 
the reports of his privately accredited correspondents. 
This was what he called feeling the pulse of the re- 
public; the latter was considered as in a very bad state 
oi' health under his hands. All that it was possible for 
me to have done, in order to keep up her strength, 
would have turned to her disadvantage. 

My adversaries laboured to reduce my functions to 
that of a simply administrative and theoretical police : 
but 1 was not a man to be so put down. The first con- 
sul himself, — it is fair to do him this justice, — was ca- 
pable of firmly withstanding all manceuvres of this de- 
scription. He said, that m thus w^ishing to deprive him 
of my services, he was exposed to the hazard of re- 
maining defenceless in presence of the counter-revolu- 
tionists ; that no one understood better than me how to 
manage the police department of the English and 
Chouan agents, and that my system suited him. I ne- 
vertheless was aware that 1 was only a counterpoise in 
the machine of government. Besides, its march was 
more or less subordinate to the course of public events 
and the chances of politics. 

Every thing at that time seemed to intimate an ap- 
proaching peace. The battle of Marengo had, by the 
results of a military convention, more wonderful than 
the victory itself, thrown into the power of the first 
consul. Piedmont, Lombardy, Genoa, and the strongest 
places in Upper Italy. It was only after having re-es- 
tablished the Cisalpine republic, that he departed from 
Milan. 

On his side, Moreau approaching Vienna, after hav- 
ing made himself master of Munich, the Austrians also 
were iiuluced to solicit an armistice : that ol Italy not 
extending to the German territory. To this Moreau 
consented; and on ihc l.'3th of July the preliminaries 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 121 

of peace were signed at Paris between Austria and 
France. 

Successes so decisive, far from disarming the repub- 
lican mal-contents, exasperated them more and more. 
Bonaparte created bitter enemies by his absolute and 
mihtary habits. There were, even at that time, count- 
ed in the ranks of the army a great number of opposi- 
tionists whom a repubhcan spirit induced to form se- 
cret associations. General officers, and colonels, moved 
their secret strings. They flattered themselves with 
having in their party Bernadotte, Augereau, Jourdan, 
Brune, and even Moreau himself, who already began 
to repent of having assisted the elevation of the indi- 
vidual who had now erected himself into a master. In 
fact, no visible sign, no positive datum, furnished the 
government with a hint of these intrigues ; but some 
broken indications and disclosures prompted it to the 
frequent removal from one place to another of the re- 
giments and officers who had rendered themselves ob- 
jects of suspicion. 

In Paris, affairs were in a more gloomy condition, and 
the operation of the mal-contents was more obvious. 
The more violent were withheld from employments, 
and watched. 1 was informed that, since the institu- 
tion of the consular government, they held secret as- 
semblies and fabricated plots. It was in order to ren- 
der those plots abortive, that I exerted all my energies ; 
by that means hoping to mitigate the natural inclination 
01 the government to re-act upon the individuals of the 
revolution. I had even succeeded in obtaining from the 
first-consul some exterior demonstrations favourable to 
republican ideas. For example, on the anniversary of 
the 14th of July, which had just been celebrated under 
the auspices of concord, the first-consul had given at a 
solemn banquet the folloAving remarkable toast ; " The 
French people ; our sovereignJ^'' I had supplied much 
assistance to indigent and unfortunate patriots; on the 
other hand, by the vigilance of my agents, and by means 
of timely information, I retained in obscurity and inac- 
16 



122 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

tivity the most violent of those demagogues who, be- 
fore the departure of Bonaparte for Italy, had assem- 
bled, and devised the project of perpetrating his mur- 
der on the road, in the vicinity of the capital. After 
his return, and his triumphs, resentments became blind 
and implacable. There were secret divans held, and 
one of (he more intemperate conspirators, muffled up 
in the garb of a gendarme^ took an oath to assassinate Bo- 
naparte at the Comedie Fraagaise. My measures, com- 
bined with those of General Lannes, chief of the coun- 
ter-police, caused the frustration of this plot. But one 
baffled conspiracy was quickly followed by another. 
How, indeed, could the possibility be expected of re- 
straining for any length of time men of a turbulent cha- 
racter and of an unconquerable fanaticism, exposed, 
moreover, to a condition of private distress so well cal- 
culated to inflame them ? It is with such instruments 
that conspiracies are formed and fomented. I soon re- 
ceived information that Juvenot, an old aid-dc-camp of 
Henriot, with some twenty zealots, were plotting the 
attack and murder of the first-consul at Malmaison. I 
put a stop to this, and caused Juvenot to be arrested. 
But it was impossible to extract any confession ; we 
were unable to penetrate the secret of these intrigues 
aod to reach their real authors. Fion, Dufour, and 
Rossignol, passed for the principal agents of the con- 
spiracy ; Talot and Laignelot for the invisible directors. 
They had their own pamphleteer ; this was Metge, a 
resolute, active, and untraceable individual. 

Towards the middle of September, intmiation was 
given me of a plot to assassinate the first-consul at the 
opera. I caused Rossignol and some other obscure per- 
sons who were suspected, to be arrested and conveyed 
to prison in the Temple. The interrogatory elicited no 
light; and I ordered them to be set at liberty, with di- 
rections to follow them. Five days after, the same con- 
spiracy was resumed ; at least, an individual named 
Harcl, one of the accomplices, in the hope of large 
remuneration, made some disclosures, in concert with 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 123 

the commissary Lefebvre, to Bourienne, secretary of 
the iirst-consul. Harel himself being brought for- 
ward, corroborated his first information, and desig- 
nated the conspirators. According to him they were 
Roman emigrants named Cerrachi and Diana ; Arena, 
brother of the Corsican deputy who had declared 
against the first consul ; the painter Topino-Lebrun, 
a fanatical patriot; and Demerville, an old clerk to the 
committee of public safety intimately connected with 
Barrere. This affair procured for me at the palace a 
tolerably vehement sortie, made up of reproaches and 
bitterness. Luckily I was not thrown off my guard. 
" General Consul," I calmly replied, "if the indiscreet 
zeal of the accuser had been less interested, he would 
have come to me, who direct, and ought to direct, all 
the secret strings of the superior police, and who secure 
the safety of the chief magistrate against all organized 
conspiracy — organized, I say — for there is no answer- 
ing for the solitary madness of a fanatical scoundrel. In 
this case, beyond a doubt, there is a plot ; or, at least, a 
real design to commit violence. 1 had myself full know- 
ledge of it, and caused the incoherent projectors, who 
seem to have deluded themselves with reference to the 
possibility of its execution, to be observed. I can pro- 
duce proofs of Avhat I advance by the immediate pro- 
duction of the person from whom I derived my infor- 
mation!" It was Barrere who was then charged 
with the political department of journals written under 
ministerial influence. " Very well," replied Bonaparte 
in an animated tone ; " let him be produced and make 
his declaration to General Lannes, who is already ac- 
quainted with the affair, and with whom you will con- 
cert the proper measures." 

1 soon perceived that the policy of the first consul 
led him to impart substance to a shadow ; and that it 
was his wish to have it believed that he had incurred 
great danger. It was decided, and to this I was a 
stranger, that the conspirators should be entrapped 
into a snare which Harel was ordered to devise ; in pro- 



124 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

curing them, as he had promised, four armed men who 
should be employed to assassinate the first consul on the 
evening: of the J 0th of October, while present at the 
performance of the opera of the Horatii. 

This being decided, the consul, in a privy council, to 
which the minister of war was summoned, spoke of the 
dangers by which he was surrounded, the plots of the 
anarchists and demagogues, and of the perverse direc- 
tion which men of irritable and ferocious republicanism 
imparted to the public mind. He instanced Carnot, 
and reproached him with his connexion with men of ihe 
revolution, and with his morose disposition. Lucien 
spoke in the same strain, but in a more artificial man- 
ner; and he referred (the whole scene being got up 
for the occasion,) to the prudence and wisdom of the 
consuls Cambaceres and Lebrun, who, pleading reasons 
of state, had alleged that the portfolio of the war de- 
partment must be withdrawn from Carnot. The fact 
is, that Carnot had frequently allowed himself to defend 
public liberty, and remonstrate with the first consul 
agamst the favours granted to royalists: against the 
royal magnificence of the court ; and against the incli- 
nation which Josephine manifested of performing the 
part of queen, and surrounding herself with females 
whose name and rank flattered her self-love. The 
next day, Carnot, in conformity with the notice which I 
was instructed to give him, sent in his resignation. 

On the day following, at the performance of the Ho- 
ratii, the mock-attempt on the life of the first consul 
occurred. On that occasion, persons were stationed in 
readiness by the counter-police, with respect to whom 
the conspirators had been deluded; and those persons 
arrested Diana, Cerrachl, and their accomplices. 

This alTau* made a gicat stir; and it was what was 
wanted. All the superior authorities hurried to con- 
gratulate tlu.' first consul on thoilangrr he had escaped, 
(n his reply from the tribunat, he said, that he had in 
reality run no danger; that independently of the assis- 
tance supplied by all good citizens who were present at 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 125 

the performance which he attended, he had with him 
a piquet of his brave guard. — " The wretches," ex- 
claimed he, " were incapable of bearing the looks of 
those i^allant men." 

I immediateiv proposed measures of superintendence 
and precaution for the future ; and, among others, to 
disarm all the villages on the road from Paris to Mal- 
maison, and to institute a search into all the detached 
houses on the same road. Special instructions were 
drawn up in order to impart redoubled vigilance to the 
agents of police. The counter-police of the palace also 
ordained extraordinary measures ; less facility of access 
to the chief magistrate was permitted ; all the avenues 
by which he reached the boxes of the theatres were 
secured from ail risk of individual violence. 

Every government, of recent origin, generally profits 
by the occasion of a danger which it has provoked, 
either to corroborate or to extend its power ; to have 
escaped a conspiracy is sufficient ground for acquiring 
more energy and vigour. The first consul was instinc= 
tively induced to follow a policy adopted by all his 
predecessors. In this latter case, he Avas more particu- 
larly prompted thereto by his brother Lucien, who was 
equally ambitious as himself, although his ambition ex-? 
hibited a different shape and character. It had not 
escaped his notice, that he curbed and eclipsed his 
brother, either bj*^ boasting with too much arrogance 
and self-complacency of the J 8th of Brumaire, or by 
desiring to exercise too great a predominance in the 
operations of government. He had at first entertained 
a secret design of urging Bonaparte to establish a spe- 
cies of consular duumvirate, by means of which he meant 
to have retained in his own hands all the civil power, 
and to have thus effected a participation of power with 
a brother who never contemplated the idea of any par- 
ticipation whatsoever. 

This project having failed, he sought every means of 
re-establishing his credit, which had declined in conse- 
quence of his wants, and of that iron barrier which he 



J 26 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

found in his way, and to tlic construction of which, he 
had himself so much contributed. 

Avaihng himself of the impression produced by the 
species of a republican conspiracy just suppressed, and 
exaggerating to the eve of his brother the inconve- 
nience attending on the instability of his power and the 
dangers stirred up against him by the .republican spirit, 
he hoped from that tmie to induce him to establish a 
constitutional monarchy, of which he meant himself to 
be the directing minister and support. I was openly op- 
posed to this project, which was at that time impracti- 
cable ; and I was well aware that the first consul him- 
self, however devoured by the desire of rendering his 
power immovable, founded the anticipated success of 
his encroachments upon other combinations. 

Lucien, however, persisted in his projects ; and wish- 
ing to complete the work, which according to him, Avas 
only yet a sketch, at least, conceiving himself to be se- 
cure of the tacit assent of his brother, he caused a pam- 
phlet to be secretly composed and \\ Fitten, entitled : 
Parallel of Cromwell, Monk and Bonaparte, where the 
cause and principles of monarchy were overtly advocat- 
ed and cried up. Great numbers of this pamphlet 
having been struck off, Lucien in his private office en- 
closed as many packets of them under cover as there 
were prefectures, and each packet contained copies 
equal in number to the functionaries of the departments. 
No official notice, it is true, accompanied this mission 
which was sent to each prefect by coach ; but the cha- 
racter of the envoi, the superscription bearing the 
marks of a ministerial mission, and other uidications, 
gave sufficient intimation of the source and jiolitical ob- 
ject of the publication. 1 on the same day received a 
copy, unkiiuwn to J^ucien; and hastenini;; to Malmaison, 
I laid it under the eye of the first consul, with a report, 
in which I exhibited the serious inconveniences likely 
to result from so ill dis^uisrd an initiative. I designated 
it as unseasonable and imprudent ; and 1 supported my 
arguments cffijctually by referring to the state of secret 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 127 

irritation, in which the mind of the army at that time 
was, especially among the generals and superior officers, 
who personally were little attached to Bonaparte, and 
who being indebted for their military fortunes to the 
revolution, were attached more than it was imagined to 
republican forms and principles : 1 said that a monar- 
chical establishment could not without danger be ab- 
ruptly made to succeed them, and that it would be ob- 
noxious to all those, who beforehand raised the cry of 
usurpation ; I concluded, in short, by making the pre- 
mature character of such tests obvious, and I subse- 
quently obtained an order, publicly to prevent the fur- 
ther propagation of the pamphlet. 

I afterwards ordered the circulation to be stopped, 
and in order with more effect to obviate the suspicion 
that it emanated from government, I designated it in 
my circular as the work of some contemptible and culpa- 
ble intrigue. Lucien, in a rage at this, and concluding 
that 1 should not have employed such expressions with- 
out being authorized, hurried in his turn to Malmaison, 
in order to extort an explanation, which was of a stor- 
my character. From this epoch the opposition between 
the two brothers assumed a complexion of hostility, 
which concluded by degenerating into violent scenes. 
It is certain that Lucien, at the conclusion of one in- 
temperate altercation, passionately threw on his bro- 
ther's desk his portfolio of minister, exclaiming that he 
divested himself the more readily of a public character 
as he had suffered nothing but torment, from subjection 
to such a despot ; and that on the other hand, his bro- 
ther equally exasperated, called his aides-de-camp on 
duty to turn out of his closet the citizen who forgot the 
respect due to the first consul. 

Decorum and state reasons united, required the sepa- 
ration of the two brothers, without more scandal and 
violence. M. de Talleyrand and myself laboured at 
this task ; all was politically made up. Lucien in a 
short time departed for Madrid, with the title of am- 
bassador, and with an express mission to change the in- 



128 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

clinations of the King of Spain, and urge him to a war 
against Portugal ; a kingdom which the first consul be- 
held with chagrin subjected to dependence upon Eng- 
land. 

The causes and the circumstances of the departure 
of Lucien could scarcely remain secret. On this occa- 
sion, the opportunity was not lost in private correspon- 
dences and m the Parisian saloons, to exhibit me upon 
the stage; to represent me, as having triumphed in a 
contest for favour against the brother of the first consul 
himself; it was pretended that by such means I had 
enabled tiie party of Josephine and the Beauharnais to 
preponderate over the party of the brothers of Napo- 
leon. It is true, that, looking to the advantage of the 
maturity and unity of authority, T was fully persuaded 
that the mild and benignant influence of the Beauhar- 
nais was preferable to the excessive and imperious en- 
croachments of Lucien, who alone wished to domineer 
over the state, and to leave his brother nothing but the 
management of the army. 

New plots, engendered by extreme parties, succeeded 
these domestic quarrels of the palace. Ever since the 
latter end of October, the fanatics had renewed their 
sinister designs ; I perceived that they were organized 
with a secrecy and ability which disconcerted all the 
vigilance of the police. At this period, two parallel 
and almost identical plots were formed against the life 
of the first consul, by demagogues and royalists. As the 
latter, which was more dangerous because entirely de- 
vised in darkness, appeared to me to be connected with 
the political situation which the chief magistrate then 
held, I will give a summary of that situation in a few 
words. 

The Emperor of Austria had received news of the 
preliminaries of peace being signed in his name at Pa- 
ris by the Count St. Julien, at the very moment when 
that monarcli had signed a subsidiary treaty with Eng- 
land. The cabinet of Vienna, thus embarrassed be- 
tween peace and English gold, courageously resolved on 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 129 

a new recourse to the risks of war. M. de St. Julien 
was thrown into prison for having exceeded his powers ; 
and the armistice being about to expire in a short time, 
preparations for renewing hostilities were made on both 
sides. The armistice, however, was prolonged till JNo- 
vember. In this manner both sides balanced between 
peace and war. The first consul and his government 
were at that time inclined to peace, which then solely 
depended on the operations of Moreau, in Germany; of 
that Moreau, whose troublesome reputation Bonaparte 
even at that time envied. 

He was the only man whose renown could bear com- 
petition with his, in point of strategic skill. This kind 
of military rivalry, and the position of Moreau, in re- 
gard to public opinion, subjected "Bonaparte, in some 
sort, to the mercy of his success, while in the interior 
of France he was exposed to the plots of demagogues 
and hostile royalists. In their eyes he was the common 
enemy. The vigilance of the police, far from discou- 
raging the anarchists, appeared to imbue them with 
more audacity and vigour. Their leaders sometimes 
assembled at the house of Chretien, the limonadier ; 
sometimes at Versailles; sometimes in the garden of 
the Capucines, organizing insurrection, and already 
devising a provisional government. Determining to 
bring the matter to a conclusion, they proceeded to 
desperate resolutions. One of them, named Chevalier, 
a man of delirious republicanism and atrocious spirit, 
who was employed in the great artillery magazine at 
Meudon, under the committee of public safety, to de- 
vise means of destruction calculated on the extraordi- 
nary effects of gunpowder, conceived the first idea of 
destroying Bonaparte by means of an infernal machine 
stationed on his road. Stimulated by the approbation 
of his accomplices, and still more by his native dispofi- 
tion, Chevalier, seconded by a man named Veycer, con- 
structed a kind of barrel, hooped with iron, furnished 
with nails, and loaded with gunpowder and case-shot, 
to which he affixed a firmly adapted and loaded batte- 
17 



130 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

rj, which was calculated to be discharged at any given 
moment by the aid of a match held by an engineer, 
■who must himself be sheltered from the eflfects of the 
explosion. 

The work proceeded rapidly ; all the conspirators 
exhibited an impatience to blow up, by means of the 
infernal machine, the little corporal, a name which they 
gave to Bonaparte. This was not all ; the most daring 
among them, with Chevalier at their head, had the au- 
dacity to make an experiinent of the infernal machine 
among themselves. The night between the 17th and 
18th of October was chosen ; the chiefs of the plot 
proceeded to the back part of the convent de la Salpe^ 
triere, believing themselves in that place secure from 
detection. The explosion was so great there, that the 
fanatics themselves, seized with terror, dispersed. As 
soon as they recovered from their first alarm, they de- 
liberated on the effects of the horrible invention ; some 
considered it well adapted to etiect their purpose ; oth- 
ers, (and Chevalier was of this opinion) thought, that 
as it was not the object of their plot to destroy many 
persons, but to secure the destruction of one, the effect 
of the infernal machine depended on too many hazard- 
ous chances. After some deep reflection. Chevalier 
decided on the idea of constructing a kind of incendia- 
ry bomb, which being hurled against the first consul's 
carriage, either at his arrival or departure from the 
play, would blow it up by a sudden and inevitable ex- 
plosion. Accordingly, he again set hiniF-elf to work. 

But the nocturnal explosion had already attracted 
my attention; and the boast of the conspirators trans- 
pirlnnf from one to the other, very shortly drew the 
whole police after their heels. The greater part of 
the secret intelligence referred to an infernal machine, 
vviiich was intended to blow up the little corporal. I 
consulted my notes, and I felt assured that Chevalier 
must be the principal artificer of this perfidious machi- 
nation. He was found concealed on the 8th of No- 
vember, and arrested, as well as Veyccr, in the Hue dcs 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 131 

Blancs Manteaux ; all those suspected to be their ac- 
complices being taken at the same time. Powder and 
ball were found ; the relics of the first machine, and a 
rough model of the incendiary bomb; in short, all the 
materials of the crime. But no confession was to be 
obtained either by menaces or bribes. 

It will naturally be believed after this discovery, that 
the life of Bonaparte would be secure against means so 
atrocious and attempts so perverted. But the other 
hostile party, following the same object by the same 
intrigues, already conceived the scheme of robbing the 
demagogues of the invention of the infernal machine. 
Nothing is more extraordinary, and nevertheless more 
true, than this sudden change of actors on the same 
stage, in order to perform the same tragedy. It would 
appear incredible did I not myself retrace its secret 
causes, as they successively appear to classify them- 
selves in my own mind. 

At the opening of the campaign, Georges Cadoudal, 
the most decided and inveterate of all the unsubjected 
chiefs of Lower Brittany, disembarked at Morblhan, 
on a mission from London, to get up a new revolt. He 
was invested with the command-in-chicf of all Brittany, 
the military details of which command he deputed to 
his principal lieutenants, Mercier la Vendee, de Bar, 
Sol de Grisolles, and Guillemot. These intrigues were 
connected with others in Paris among correspondents 
and fellow conspirators, as well as in the departments 
of the west. In this particular, I had more than indi- 
cations : I had full knowledge of a projected insurrec- 
tion, which, at that epoch, namely, the passage of St. 
Bernard by the first consul, furnished great cause of 
alarm to the two other consuls, Cambaceres, and Le- 
brun. I immediately adopted vigorous measures. My 
agents and the whole of the gendarmerie took the field ; 
I caused several of the old suspected chiefs to be watch- 
ed and arrested, and among others, some very danger- 
ous heads of parishes. But the operations of the pc 



132 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

lice were more or less subordinate to the chances of 
external war. 

In a report transmitted to the first consul at Milan, 
I did not disguise from him the symptoms of a crisis 
which displayed themselves in the interior of France ; 
and I told him that he must absolutely return victori- 
ous, and that instantly, in order to disperse the newly- 
collected elements of troubles and storms. 
-^ In fact, as it has been shown, fortune on the plain of 
Marengo loaded him with all kinds of favours, at the 
very moment when his enemies considered him lost for 
ever. This sudden triumph disconcerted all the de- 
signs of England, and destroyed all the hopes of Geor- 
ges Cadoudal, without, however, quelling his iron reso- 
lution. He persevered in remaining in Morbihan, 
which he considered as his domain, and the royalist or- 
ganization of Avhich was supported by his exertions. 
Informed by his correspondents at Paris of the irrita- 
tion and the reviving plots of the popular party, he 
sent thither, toward the end of October, his most de- 
cided confidential officers, such as Limolan, Saint-Re- 
gent, Joyaux, and Haie-Saint-Hilaire. It is even pro- 
bable that he had already conceived, or adopted, the 
idea of borrowing the infernal machine from the jaco- 
bins, of which machine his agents had furnished him 
information. In the disposition of the public mind, and 
of the government also, this crime, originated by royal- 
ists, did not fail of being ascribed to jacobins; besides, 
the royalists were, at all events, in a condition to gather 
the harvest of the crime. A combination so audacious 
appeared more especially political. Such was the ori- 
gin of the attempt made on the 21th of December (3d 
Nivose), by the agents, or, rather, the delegates of 
Georges. This double plot remained for a short time 
concealed by a thick veil, so exclusively did the suspi- 
cions and attention of all parties direct themselves to- 
ward the anarchists. One circumstance appeared fa- 
vournblc to conf<'r a great probability of success on this 

new dcsiffn. The oratorio of the Creation of the 

o 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 133 

World, by Haydn, was announced for the 24th of De- 
cember, at the opera ; all Paris was aware that the 
first consul would be present with his retinue. So pro- 
found was the perversity of the conspiracy that the 
agents of Georges deliberated whether it would not 
be more certain to station the infernal machine beneath 
the foundations of the opera pit, in such a manner as 
to blow up at the same time Bonaparte and the en- 
tire elite of his government. Whether it was the idea 
of so horrible a catastrophe, or the uncertainty of de- 
stroying the individual against whom such an outrage 
was designed, which caused the crime to be put off, I 
am incapable, indeed, I tremble to pronounce. Never- 
theless, an old officer of the marines, named Saint-Re- 
gent, assisted by Carbon, called Little Francis, a subal- 
tern, was directed to station the fatal machine in the 
Rue Saint-Nicaise, which it was necessary for Bona- 
parte to pass, and to apply the match in time to blow 
up his carriage. The burning of the match, the effect 
of the powder and explosion, was all computed by the 
time which the coachman of the first consul ordinarily 
employed, in coming from the Tuileries to that upper 
portion of the Rue Saint Nicaise, where the infernal 
machine was to be placed. 

The prefect of police and myself were apprised the 
evening before that there was much whispering in cer- 
tain clubs of a great blow that was to be struck on the 
follov^'ing day. This information was very vague ; be- 
sides, notices equally alarming were brought to us eve- 
ry day. The first consul, however, was instantly ap- 
prised of it, by our diurnal reports. He at first appear- 
ed to exhibit some hesitation ; but, on the report of the 
counter-police of the palace, that the opera-house had 
been inspected, and all kinds of precautionary measures 
taken, he called for his carrias^e and departed, accom- 
panied by his aids-de-camp. On this occasion, as on so 
many others, it was Caesar accompanied by his fortune. 
It is well known that the hope of tiie conspirators was 
only baffled by a slight accident. The first consul's 



134 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

coachman, being half intoxicated on that day, having 
driven his horses with more than usual celerity, the 
explosion, which was computed with rigorous precision, 
was retarded about two seconds, and that scarcely per- 
ceptible fraction of time, deducted from the precon- 
certed time, sufTiced to save the life of the first consul 
and consolidate his power.* 

* The infernal machine did not accomplish its design, which was 
that of destroying the first consul ; but it caused the death of some 
twenty persons, and wounded fifty-six others, more or less severely. 
Medical assistance was given to the unfortunate wounded, arcord- 
ing to the greater or less severity of their wounds. The maximum 
of that medical assistance was four thousand five hundred francs, 
and the minimum twenty-five francs. The oiplians and widows re- 
ceived pensions, as well as the children of those who perished ; 
but only till they arrived at their majority; and then they were 
to receive two thousand francs for their fitting out. The follow- 
ing are the names of the persons who received assistance by order 
of the first consul, with the amount of the sum allowed them : — 

Bataille, Mme., tpiciere, rue St. Nicaise . . 100 

Boiteux, Jean-Marie-Joseph, ci devant frere de la Charity 60 

Bonnet, Mme., rue Saint-Nicaise . . . 150 

Boulard, (veuve,) musicicnne, rue J. J. Rousseau . 4000 
A second supply was granted her on account of her wounds : 

it was ...... 3000 

Bourdin, Fran5oise Louvrier, femme, portiere, rue Saint Ni- 
caise ...... SO 

Buchener, Louis, tailleur, rue St. Nicaise . . 25 

Chapuy, Gilbert, officier civil de la marine, rue du Bac 800 

Charles, Jean Etienno, imprimeur, rue St. Nicaise . 400 

Clement, gar(;on marechal, rue de l^etit Carrousel . 50 
Cl('reaux, iMarie Josophine Lchodey, picirre, rue Neuve de 

TEgalile ...... 3800 

Collinct, Marie Joanne Cecile, revendeuse, a la halle 200 
Corbet, Nicolas Alexandre, emploj'e a I'^tat-major de la 17e 

division, rue Saint llouore .... 240 

Coutcux, verniiceliicr, rue des Prouvaircs . . 150 

Duverne, Louis, ouvrior scrrurior, rue du Harlay 1000 

Floury, Catherine Lenoir, veuvo, rue de Malte . 50 
Fostier, I^ouis I'liilipito, reniplarant au poste de la rue Saint 

Nicaiso ...... 25 

Fridzery, Alexandre IMarie Antoiue, musicien avcugle, rue 

Saint Nicaise ..... 750 

Oauthcr, Marie Poncotte, fille, rue do Chaillot . 100 

IJarel, Antoinc, gar^on limop.adier, rue de Malt© 3000 



MEBIOIRS OF FOUCHE. 135 

Without expressing any astonishment at the event, 
Bonaparte exclaimed on hearing the report of the 

Hiblot, Marie Anne, fille, rue de Malte . - 240 

Honore. Marie Therese Larue, veuve, rue Marceau 100 

Honore, Therese, filie, ouvriere .... 50 

Huguet, Louis, cuisinier aux Champs Elysees . . 50 

Jardy, Julien, remplagant au poste Saint Nicaise . 100 

Kalbert, Jean Antoine, apprenti menuisier, rue ". 100 

Lambert, iVIarie Jacqueline Gillot, femme, rue Fromenteau 100 

Leclerc, eleve en pelnture, mort a I'hospice . . 200 
Lefevre, Simon Frangois, gar§on tapissier, rue de la Ver- 

rerie ...... 200 

Leger, Madame, limonadiere, rue Saint Nicaise . 1500 
Lepape, Elsabeth Satabin, femme, portiere, rue Saint Ni- 
caise . . . . . . 100 

Lemierre, Nicolas, rue de Malte, tenant maison garnie 200 

Lion, Pierre Nicolas, domestique, allee d'Antin . 600 
Masse, Jean Francois, gargon marcband de vin, rue des Saints 

Peres . . . . . • 150 

Mercier, Jean Baptiste, rentier, rue Saint Honore . 4500 
Orilliard, Stephanie Madeleine, fille, couturiere, rue de 

Lille . . • . . . 900 
Palluel, portier, rue Saint Nicaise ... 50 
Preville, Claude Barthelemi, tapissier, rue des Saints-Pe- 
res ...... 4500 

Proverbi, Antoine, homme de confiance, rue des Filles Saint 

Thomas ...... 750 

Regnault, femme, ouvriere, rue de Crenelle Saint Honore 200 
Saint Gilles, Louis, femme, ouvriere en linge, galerie des In- 

nocens ..,*.. 400 
Selleque, veuve, rue Saint Denis . • . 200 
Thirion, Jean, cordonnier en vieux, rue Saint Niciase 26 
Trepsat, architecte, rue de Bourgogne . . 4500 
Varlet, rue Saint Louis, rempla§ant au poste Saint Ni- 
caise ...... 25 

Warme, N. marcband de vin, rue Saint Nicaise . 100 

Vitriee, Elizabeth, femme, cuisiniSre, rue Saint Nicaise 100 

Vitry, perruquier, rue Saint Nicaise ... 50 

Wolff, Arnoult, tailieur, rue de Malte . . . 150 

Zambrini, Felix, gargon limonadier chez Corazza . 600 
Banny, Jean Frederic, garcon traiteur, rue des Grands Au- 

gustins . . . . . . 1000 

Barbier, Marie Genevieve, Viel vevue, rue Saint Honore 1000 
Beirle, Alexandre, marchand gantier peaussier, rue Saint 

Nicaise ...... 800 

Boyeldieu, Marie Louise Chevalier, veuve, rue Saint Pla- 

cide . ..... iOOe 



136 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

frightful explosion, " that is the infernal machine;" ami 
Avithoiit desiring to retrograde or fly, he made his ap- 
pearance at the opera. But with what a wrathful 
countenance and terrible aspect ! What gloomy thoughts 
must have rushed on his suspicious mind ! The news 
of the attempt soon circulated from box to box ; the 
public indignation was vivid, and the sensation profound 
among the ministers, the courtiers, and the relations of 
the first-consul; in short, among all individuals attach- 
ed to the car of his fortune. Anticipating the opera, 
all followed his carriage : and, on nis return to the 
Tuileries, there opened a scene, or rather an orgy of 
blind and furious passions. On my arrival thither, for 
I hurried there without delay, I calculated from the 
mental irritation which I perceived from the frozen 
glance which his adherents and counsellors darted at 
me, that a storm was about to burst upon my head, and 
that the most unjust suspicions were directed against 
the police. For this result I was prepared, and de- 
termined not to suifer myself to be put down by the 
clamours of the courtiers nor the apostrophes of the, 
first consul. "Eh, bicn!" exclaimed he, advancing to- 
waids me with a countenance inflamed with rage ; "Eh 
bien ! you will not now pretend to say that these were 
royalists?" — "Yes," I replied, as if inspired, and with 
perfect presence of mind, " beyond a doubt I will say 
so; and what is more, I will prove it." 

My reply, at first, caused a universal astonishment; 
but the first consul lepeating with more and more bit- 
terness, and with obstinate incredulity, that the hor- 
rible attempt just directed against his life, was the 
work of a parly loo much protected and not sufliciently 
restrained by the police ; in short, of the jacobins — 
"No;" I replied, "it is the work of the royalists, of 

Orphdins^ TJstcr, Ac:ncs, Adelaiile . . 1200 

Miliiiiic, Jeanne I'revost, veuve, rue dc Malta . 4;'>0 

Platel, Jeanne Smith, votive .... UH)0 

The sum total was 77,G01 fr. ; the overplus was \>\iu\ in to the 
fund at the Mont dc Piete. in order to pay the peusioui. — Avte by 
the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOU€HE. 137 

the chouans ; and I only require eight hours to fur- 
nish the demonstration." Having thus obtained some 
attention, 1 gave a summary of recent notices and facts, 
and justified the entire police ; adverting, at the same 
time, to its sub-division into different centres, in order 
to exonerate myself from all personal responsibility. I 
even went further; — I recriminated against that tend- 
ency of the public mind, which, within the atmosphere 
of the government, was urged to impute every thing 
that was culpable to the jacobins and the men of the 
revolution. I attributed to this false bias, the circum- 
stance of the whole vigilance of the counter-police be- 
ing directed against individuals, who were, doubtless, 
dangerous, but who were now paralyzed and disarmed ; 
while the emigrants, the chouans, the agents of Eng- 
land, would not have been able, if any timely warning 
had been attended to, to strike the metropolis with 
terror, and fill the public mind with indignation. Ge- 
neral Lannes, Real, Regnault, and Josephine, were of 
my opinion ; and corroborated by a respite of eight 
days, I felt no doubt, that proof sufficient would in- 
stantly be supplied in support of my conjectures. I 
had soon, in fact, possession, by means of the single bait 
of 2,000 louis, of all the designs of the agents of 
Georges, and I was furnished with the secret of their 
hearts. I was apprised, that the day of the explosion 
and the day following, four-and-twenty chiefs of the 
chouans had clandestinely arrived at Paris, from differ- 
ent quarters, and through by-ways ; that if all of these 
were not in the secret of the meditated crime, they, 
at least, were all in expectation of some great event, 
and were all supplied with a pass-wprd. At length, 
the true author and instrument of the attempt Were re- 
vealed^ to me, and the proofs accumulating in a few 
days, I concluded by triumphing over every incredulity 
and prejudice. 

I had not failed to perceive, that this last attempt 
made on the life of the first-consul, had irritated his 
gloomy and haughty spirit; and that in the resolution 
18 



158 MEMOIRS OF FOUCME. 

to suppress his enemies, he looked to such an increase 
of power as would render him the master. His incli- 
nation was but too well seconded through all the 
hierarchies of government. 

His first essay, as a military dictator, was to pass an 
act of deportation beyond the seas, against such indi- 
viduals among the demagogues and anarchists, in worst 
repute at Paris; and of whom I was desired to pro- 
vide a list. The senate, impelled by the public feel- 
ing, and conceding all that was required, made no hesi- 
tation in conferring its sanction on this extra-judicial 
act. I succeeded, but not without dilHculty, in saving 
some forty of the proscribed, whom I caused to be 
struck out of the list before the publication of the 
Senatus Consultum, authorising deportation into Africa. 
Through my means, that cruel decree of deportation 
pronounced against Charles de Hesse, Felix Lepelle- 
tier, Choudieu, Talot, Destrem, and other persons sus- 
pected of being the ringleaders of plots which gave in- 
quietude to Bonaparte, was changed to a simple mea- 
sure of exile, and surveillance beyond the limits of 
Paris. Measures were not limited to a banishment of 
the most violent Jacobins. The first-consul found the 
forms of the constitutional tribunals too dilatory ; he 
demanded an active and inexorable justice ; he wished 
to abstract the accused from the sphere of their natural 
judges. It was deliberated in the council of state, 
whether the establishment of special tribunals, without 
jury, appeal, or revision, should not be solicited as a 
law of exception from the legislative body. 

It was my task to make it felt how necessary it at 
least was to abstract from the jurisdiction of the tribu- 
nals, none but persons accused of conspiracies, or indi- 
viduals who had attacked and robbed tlie diligences on 
the high-roads. I represented that the roads were 
infested by brigands ; accordingly, a decree was pub- 
lished by the consuls on the 7th of January, ordaining 
that no diligence should depart from Paris without hav- 
ing four soldiers couiuianUed by a gerjeant, or corporal 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 139 

on the imperial, and without having a night-escort. 
The diligences were still attacked ; such was the system 
of petty warfare carried on by the chouans. At the 
same epoch, some scoundrels, known under the name of 
chauffeurs^ desolated the provinces. Strong measures 
were necessary ; for the government felt more alarm 
than it permitted itself to testify. Persons accused of 
conspiracy were punished without mercy. 

Two military commissions were erected ; one sen- 
tenced Chevalier and Veycer, the persons accused of 
having fabricated the infernal machine, and caused them 
to be executed ; the other pronounced the same penalty 
against Metge, Humbert, and Chapelle, charged with 
having conspired against the government. They were 
executed like Chevalier and Veycer, on the plain de 
Grenelle. At the same time, Arena, Cerrachi, Demer- 
vllle, and Topino-Lebrun, appeared before the criminal 
tribunal, where they were allowed the benefit of a trial 
by jury; but the period was inauspicious, and the public 
prejudice decisive. They were condemned to die, and 
their four accomplices acquitted. No tribunal before, 
on the attempt of the life of the first consul, would 
have dared to condemn them on the single testimony of 
Harel, a hireling accuser. 

The trial relative to the explosion of the 3d Nivose 
came on later. In order to complete its details, 1 had 
possessed myself, as f had promised, of the necessary 
proofs. There was no longer any doubt of the quarter 
from whence the crime originated. It was in evidence 
that Carbon had bought the horse and waggon in which 
the infernal machine had been placed ; it was equally 
proved, that he and Saint-Regent had taken back the 
same waggon ", had provided the casks ; brought the 
baskets and boxes filled with small shot ; and, in short, 
that Saint-Regent having fired off the machine, had 
been wounded by the effect of the explosion. 

The analogy remarked between these different at- 
tempts, caused a presumption that some understanding 
had existed between their authors, although of different 



140 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

parties. The only analogy, in reality, was the commou 
hatred which induced both to conspire against the same 
obstacle ; nor were there any other relations between 
them than those of a secret agency, A\hich rendered 
the royalists acquainted with the terrible instrument 
projected by the jacobins for the destruction of Bona- 
parte. 

Blood enough was doubtless shed, in order to strike 
terror into the hearts of his enemies ; and from that 
moment his power might be considered as established. 
He had in fiis favour all those who surrounded him. 
Fortune, moreover, whicji seemed ever watchful for 
his advantage, loaded him with the consummation of her 
favours in the great game of war. His German armies, 
commanded by Moreau, had resumed the offensive at 
the expiration of the armistice, and Moreau, following 
up his successes, had just gained the battle of Hoheu- 
linden ; on that occasion, and on the theatre of his glory, 
he exclaimed, in addressing his generals — " My friends, 
we have conquered peace." In fact, in less than twenty 
days he had rendered himself master of eighty leagues 
of vigorously disputed territory ; had forced the formi- 
dable lines of the Inn, the Salza, the Traun, and the 
Ens ; had pushed on his advanced posts to within twenty 
leagues of Vienna ; had dispersed the only troops whicn 
covered his approaches ; and not till he was stopped in 
his career by policy, or envy, concluded a fresh armis- 
tice at Steyer. Convinced of the emergency of circum- 
stances, the cabinet of London consented to Austria's 
desisting from the conditions of the alliance, and opening 
negotiations for a separate peace ; which gave occasion 
for the remark, that Bonaparte had triumphed for his 
own interest ; Moreau, for the peace of his country. 
Such were the first seeds of that rivalry which were 
sown between the two great ca|>taiiis. Dilference of 
character, and the relics of the re[)ublican spirit, natu- 
rally produced between them, at a later period, an open 
rupltne. 

This spirit exhibited itself in the capital, and created 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 141 

there a sort of fermentation about a projet de loi, having 
reference to the establishment of a special criminal 
tribunal, wherever such an institution might be deemed 
necessary. To speak plainly, the question concerned 
an unlimited commission, to be composed of one-half 
judges, and the other military men. This project, when 
introduced to the tribunal, embittered the minds of all 
the tribunes who cherished a regard for liberty ; to their 
view it was a re-est'db\ishment oi the justice prevotale o£ 
the old regime. 

The government orators alleged that the social fabric 
was attacked at its foundation, by an organization of 
crime more powerful and more extensive than the laws. 
" The laws," said they, " have no longer any relation 
with that scum of society which rejects all justice, and 
which contends to the utmost extreme against the entire 
social system." The discussion was skilful and animated ; 
it occupied seven sittings ; Isnard, Benjamin Constant, 
Daunou, Chenier, Ginguene, and Bailleul, advanced as 
the rear-guard of the public, and disputed with vigour, 
but with limitation and decency, the proposal of the 
government. It only passed by a small majority, and 
by means of the influence of the cabinet. The projet 
concluded with the grant of a power to the consuls, of 
banishing from the city, where the primary authorities 
held their sittings, and even from every other town, 
such persons whose presence attracted suspicion. This 
grant constituted a dictatorship of the police ; and it 
did not fail to be said, that I Avas about to become the 
new Sejanus of a new Tiberius. All that the first 
consul required was conceded. 

Invested with legal dictatorship ; armed with power 
to punish his enemies with death or banishment ; the 
first consul soon gave reason to understand that his 
government had no other primum mobile but force. 
But he gave peace to the world — and peace was a talis- 
man which, while offering a tranquil haven after so 
many storms, dissipated a multitude of clouds. 

The congress of Luneville, at the end of forty days, 



142 flIE]\r0IRS OF FOUCHE. 

produced a definitive treaty of peace, which was signed 
on the 9th of February, 1801, between France and 
Austria. 

The possession of the entire left bank of the Rhine, 
from the point where it quits the Helvetic territory to 
that where it enters the Batavian, was confirmed to 
France. Austria reserved in Italy her ancient Venetian 
jurisdiction ; the river Adige was its boundary. The 
mdependence of the Batavian, Helvetian, Cisalpine, and 
Ligurian republics, was mutually guaranteed. 

The first consul had taken so much umbrage at the 
opposition manifested by the tribunal against the march 
of his government, that in order to signify his displea- 
sure, he made no reply on the occasion of the peace of 
Luneville to the orator of that body. 

Other points required regulation in Italy, whence 
Massena had been recalled on suspicion of republican- 
ism. Since the preceding month of August, he had 
been superseded by Brune; himself originally suspected 
at the camp du depot, at Dijon; and whom I had suc- 
ceeded in getting restored to favour by softening down 
certain secret disclosures ; for there were spies upon 
every staff otTtcer. 

But however that may be, Brune had made himself 
master of Tuscany, and confiscated Livourne, and every 
kind of English property. 

At the solicitation of the Emperor Paul, and in defe- 
rence to his mediation, Bonaparte, who, from that time 
had designed the conquest of the two Sicilies, stopped 
the march of Mural upon Naples, and negotiated with 
the Holy See. 

The treaty of pc:icc with Naples soon followed ; by 
virtue of which, until the establishment of a definitive 
peace between France and Great Britain and the Otto- 
man Porte, four thousand French soldiers occujiied the 
northern Abruzzo, and twelve thousand the Peninsula 
of Otranto. It was I who first suggested the idea of 
this in a privy council. The stipulations were to re- 
main fiecret. By this occupation of Abriizzo, Taren- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 143 

turn and the fortresses, France supported, at the ex-^ 
pense of the kingdom of Naples, a military corps, 
which, as occasion required, might either pass into 
Egypt, Dalmatia, or Greece. 

The treaty of Lunevilie had stipulated for Austria 
and the Germanic Empire ; it was ratified by the diet; 
and in this manner peace was established on the Euro- 
pean continent. Throughout this affair the first consul 
appeared charmed with the dexterity of his minister of 
state for foreign affairs, Talleyrand-Perigord. But at 
bottom he began to be tired of what the gazetteers of 
London constantly represent, his being under the diplo- 
matic tutelage of M. de Talleyrand, and in point of 
fact, of being subjected to mine, as he could not move a 
single step without us, whose ability was purposely ex- 
aggerated in order to render us obnoxious and suspect- 
ed. I fatigued him myself by constant remarks that 
when governments are not just, their prosperity is only 
transitory ; that in the elevated sphere where fortune 
had placed him he ought to quench the hateful passions 
engendered by a long revolution in the torrents of his 
renown; and thus recall the nation to generous and be- 
nevolent habits, which are the only real source of pub- 
lic prosperity and happiness. 

But how, on emerging from a long protracted hurri- 
cane, could any one expect to find at the head of an im- 
mense republic transformed into a military dictatorship, 
a chief at once just, energetic, and discreet ? The heart 
of Bonaparte was not alien from vengeance and hatred, 
nor was his mind shut against prejudice ; and it was 
easily to perceive through the veil in which he shroud- 
ed himself a decided inclination to tyranny. It was 
precisely that inclination that I exerted myself to miti- 
gate and combat ; but for that purpose I never employ- 
ed any other weapons than the ascendancy of truth 
and reason. 1 was sincerely attached to that person- 
age, fully persuaded as I was that there was no one in 
the career of arms and in the civil order who possessed 
a character 6o firm, 60 persevering > such a character, 



144 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

in short, as was requisite to direct the government and 
suppress faction. 1 even persuaded myself at that time 
that it was possible to mitigate that great character, in 
all that it comprised of too much violence and intracti- 
bi'ity. Others calculated on a passion for women; for 
Bonaparte was by no means insensible to their charms; 
at all events, it was obvious that the fair sex would 
never obtalti an influence over him prejudicial to public 
aifairs. The first in this direction was not successful. 
Having been struck on his last passage through Milan 

with the theatrical beauty of the singer G , and 

still more by the sublime accents of her voice, he made 
her soma rich presents, and wished to attach her to 
him. He charfjed Berthier with the task of concludlnor 
a treaty with her on liberal terms, and conducting her 
to Paris ; she even performed the journey in Berthier's 
carriage. Having a tolerably rich establishment of fif- 
teen thousand francs a month, she exhibited her bril- 
liancy at the theatre and the concerts at the Tullerles, 
where her voice performed wonders. But at that time 
the chief magistrate made a point of avoiding scandal ; 
and not wishing to give Josephine, who was excessively 
jealous, any subject of complaint, his visits to the beau- 
tiful vocalist were abrupt and clandestine. Amours 
■without attention and without charms were not likely to 
satisfy a f>roud and impassioned woman, who had some- 

thinij masculine in her character. G had recourse 

to the usual infallible antidote ; she fell violently in love 
with the celebrated violin player. Rode. E(jually smit- 
ten himself, he was incapable of preserving any terms 
in his attachment ; equally defying the vigilance of Ju- 
not and Berthier. While these intrigues were going 
on, Bonaparte one day told me that he was astonished, 
with my acknowledged ability, that I did not conduct 
the police better, and that there were circumstances of 
which I was igrM)rant. — " Yes," I ro plied, " there arc 
things of which I was ignorant, but of which I am so no 
longer ; for instance, a little man, muOled up in a gray 
great coat, often issues, on dark nights, from a back 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 145 

door of the Tullerles, accompanied by a single atten- 
dant, mounts a shabby vehiclej and proceeds to ferret 
out a certain Signora G ; that little man is your- 
self; and the misjudging vocalist sacrifices her fidelity 
to you in favour of Rode, the violin-player." At these 
words the consul, turning his back upon me and remain- 
ing silent, rang the bell, and I withdrew. An aide-de- 
camp was commissioned to perform the part of a black 
eunuch to the unfaithful fair one, who indignantly refus- 
ed to submit to the regulations of the seraglio. She 
was first deprived of her establishment and pensions, in 
hope of reducing her to terms by famine ; but deeply 
in love with Rode she remained inflexible, and rejected 
the most brilliant offers of the Pylades Berthier. She 
was then compelled to quit Paris; she first retired into 
the country with her lover ; but afterwards both made 
their escape, and went to Russia to recruit their for- 
tune. 

As it was commonly pretended that war was the 
only element of the first consul, I urged him to shew 
the world that he could, when it was necessary, govern 
an empire in a state of calm, and in the midst of pacific 
enjoyments. But the pacification of the continent was 
not enough for him ; his desire was to disarm England. 
Hereditary rival of France, she had become our invete- 
rate enemy, from the moment that the impulse of the 
revolution had invested us with a colossal power. Con- 
sidering the state of Europe, the power and prosperity 
of the two countries connected by the bonds of peace, 
appeared incompatible. The policy of the first consul 
and his privy council soon desired the solution of this 
grave question; — must England be forced to make 
peace before the establishment of an internal and exter- 
nal pacific system ? The affirmative was decided by 
necessity and reason. Without a general peace, every 
other description of peace could only be considered in 
the light of a suspension of ar^ls. 

As after Campo Formio the result was to threaten 
Great Britain with an invasion, in favour of which there 
19 



146 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

was a strong prejudice in the more versatile and capri- 
cious portion of public opinion, camps were formed and 
occu})ied by nuinerous select troops on the shores fac- 
ino; Eni^land. A combined fleet was assembled at Brest, 
under the French and Spanish flag; an elfort was made 
to re-establish our marine; and the port of Bologne 
became the principal rendezvous of the flotilla desigfjed 
to elTect the descent. Such was the chimera we then 
indulged. 

On her side, England made great preparations, watch- 
ing all our movements, blockading our ports, and naval 
roads; and bristling all her coasts with warlike appara- 
tus. She had at that time subject for alarm. I refer 
to the northern league established against her naval 
preponderance, and of which the emperor Paul had de- 
clared himself the chief. Its direct object, loftily pro- 
mulgated, was to annul the naval system maintained by 
England; and in virtue of which that power arrogated 
to herself the empire of the seas. 

It is well understood how pleased the first consul 
must have been in imbuing his diplomacy with all his 
activity and address, in oider to impart life to that ma- 
ritime league of which Paul the First was the soul. 
All the mobiliary force of the cabinet was exerted eith- 
er to captivate Paul, to win Prussia, to exasperate Den- 
mark, or drag Sweden upon the field of battle. 

Prussia, having received her impulse, closed the 
mouths of the Elbe, the Weser, and the Ems; and took 
possession of the Hanoverian territory. England now 
perceived that the object of the quarrel could only be 
decided by arms. Admirals Hyde, Parker, and Nelson, 
suddenly sailed to the Baltic with a powerful naval 
force. Denmark and Swederi made vain preparations 
to guard the passage of the Sound and defend the ap- 
proaches to Copenhagen. On the 2nd of April was 
fought the terrible battle of Copenhagen, in which 
England triumphed over all the maritime impediments 
•which had been opposed to her ascendency. 

Eleven days previous, the imperial palace of St. Pc- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 147 

terburg had become the theatre of a catastrophe which 
alone had changed the aspect of aifairs in the North. 
On the 22d of March, the Emperor Paul, a monarch 
equally capricious and violent, and occasionally despotic 
even to phrenzy, was deprived of the throne by the 
only mode of deposition practicable in a despotic mo- 
narchy. 

1 received by estafette, from a foreign banker, the 
iirst^traglcal intelligence of this event ; I hurried to the 
Tuileries and found the first-consul, whose courier had 
also just arrived, grasping and twisting his despatch, 
while he walked about in a hurried manner and with 
an haggard air. " What !" said he, " an emperor not 
in safety in tlie^midst of his guards!" In order to ap- 
pease him, $onie of my colleagues, myself and the con- 
sul Cambaclsres, told him, that whatever might be the 
mode of deposition practised in Russia, luckily the south 
of Europe was a stranger to such treacherous habits 
and attempts. But none of our arguments appeared tc 
affect him; his sagacity perceived their hollowness in 
regard to his position and the danger he had run in De- 
cember. He gave vent to his passion in ejaculations, 
stampings of the foot, and short fits of rage. I never 
beheld so striking a scene. To the grief, which the 
result of the battle of Copenhagen had inflicted, was 
now added the poignant mortification which he experi-^ 
enced from the unexpected murder of the Russian po- 
tentate, whose friend and ally he had become. Polit- 
ical disappointments thus added additional pangs to his 
regret. There was an end to the northern league 
against England. 

The tragical death of Paul the First inspired Bona- 
parte with melancholy ideas, and aggravated the mis- 
trust and suspicion of his character. He dreamt of 
nothing but conspiracies in the army ; he cashiered and 
caused to be arrested several general officers, among 
others, Humbert, whom I had some difficulty in saving 
from his inflexible severity. At the same time, an in- 
former caused the intentions ©f Bernadotte to be sust 



148 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

pected, and seriously compromised him. For more 
than a jear Bernadotie commanded the army of the 
"west, and had his head-quarters at Rennes. Nothing 
could be objected to his always discreet and moderate 
operations. The preceding year, during the campaign 
of Marengo, he had prevented tlic disembarkation at 
Quiberon, and the departments of the Avest continued. 
to exhibit the most complete submission. 

At various intervals, advantage had been taken of 
some republican speeches, made by liim in his ctatrfrja- 
jor, to excite the mistrust of the first-consul against him. 
All of a sudden he was unexpectedly recalled, and fell 
into disgrace. All that can be made out, for the accu- 
sation was sent directly to the first consul's cabinet, was 
that the accuser pointed out one Colonel Simon as having 
imprudently divulged a plan of military insurrection 
against the chief-magistrate; a plan perfectly chime- 
rical, since the design Avas to march to Paris in order to 
depose the first-consul. It was supposed that there was 
reality in this pretended plot, and tliat it was not uncon- 
nected ; that it was linked with a republican conspira- 
cy, at the head of which Bernadotte was naturally 
placed, and "which extended its ramifications through 
the entire army. There were several arrests, and the 
whole stair of Bernadotte was disorganized, but without 
much noise ; above all, Bonaparte wished to avoid pub- 
licity : Europe, said he, ought to think that there arc 
no more conspiracies against me. I maintained a great 
reserve about all the particulars which were sent to me 
concerning an aftair which was more military than civil, 
and which was connected by very slight points of union 
with my functions. But I gave Bernadotte, whom I 
forbore to sec, some useful directions, for which he ex- 
pressed his obi ijTjat ions. A little time after, his brother- 
in-law, Joseph Bonaparte, arranged his reconciliation 
with the first consul ; it was the second since the JOtli 
Brumaire. In consequence of my advice, Bonaparte 
made an cfibrt, by woll-descrved favours and rewards, 
to attach so distinguished a statesman and skilful a ge- 
neral to his person. 



- MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 149 

The vortex of affairs, and progress of foreign poli- 
tics, fortunately imparted a diversion to all these inte- 
rior intrigues. The new Emperor of Russia, declaring 
himself for another system, caused, in the first instance, 
all the English marines who were prisoners to be set at 
liberty, and a convention signed at Saint Petersburg, 
between Lord St. Helens and the Russian ministers, 
soon adjusted all differences. 

At the same time the Czar gave Count Marckof full 
powers to negotiate peace with the first consul and his 
allies. It was sufficiently obvious that the cabinets 
were inclined towards a pacific system. Already Eng- 
land, towards the end of the year 1800, and the begin- 
ning of 1801, perceiving itself involved in a new quarrel 
for the maintenance of its maritime rights, while left to 
contend single-handed with the power of France, ap- 
peared to abjure a system of perpetual war against our 
revolution. That political transition was, in some de- 
gree, effected by the resignation of the celebrated Pitt, 
and by the dissolution of his war ministry. From that 
time peace between the cabinet of St. James and that 
of the Tuileries was considered practicable. It was 
accelerated by the results of two rival expeditions into 
Portugal and Egypt. 

The mission of Lucien to Madrid had also a political 
object; the declaration of war against Portugal by 
Spain, at the instigation of the first consul, who justly 
regarded Portugal as an English colony. The ascend- 
ancy of his brother over the mind of Charles the Fourth 
and his queen was without bounds. Every thing pro- 
ceeded in the interests of our politics. At the same 
time as a Spanish army obtained possession of Alentejo, 
a French army, under the order of Napoleon's brother- 
in-law Leclerc, entered Portugal by way of Salamanca. 

In its distress the court of Lisbon endeavoured to 
find safety by lavishing its treasures on its invaders. It 
opened direct negotiations with Lucien, and on the 6th 
of June, preliminaries of peace were signed at Badajoz, 
through the operation of a secret subsidy of thirty mil- 



«l 



150 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

lions, which were shared between the first consul's bro- 
ther and the Prince of Peace. Such was the source 
of the immense fortune of Lucien. The first consul, 
who wished to occu[)y Lisbon, was at first outrageous, 
threatening to recal his brother, and not to recognise 
the stipulation of Badajoz. Talleyrand and I endea- 
voured to make him feel the ill effects which would re- 
sult from such a public display. Talleyrand supported 
his arguments in favour of the basis of the treaty by the 
interest of our alliance with Spain, by the happy posi- 
tion thus supplied us of an approximation with England, 
who finding herself excluded from the ports of Portu- 
gal would be anxious to re-enter them ; he very adroit- 
ly proposed modifications of the treaty. In fine, the 
sacrilice of the diamonds of the Princess of Brazil, and 
a gift to the first consul often millions for his private 
purse, relaxed his vigour so much that he suffered the 
definitive treaty to be concluded at Madrid. 

On their side the English had just effected a disem- 
barkation in Egypt, in order to wrest that possession 
from us; and, on the 20th of March, General Menou 
lost the battle of Alexandria. Cairo, and the principal 
cities of Egypt, successively fell into the power of Anglo- 
Turks. At length Menou himself capitulated on the 
7th of August, and found himself compelled to evacuate 
Alexandria. So vanished the magnificent project of the 
directory to make a French colony of Egypt, and Bona- 
parte's still more romantic project of re-commencing 
there the empire of the East. 

The war between England and France having from 
that time no obj(;ct worthy the trouble of prolonging 
the struggle, and each of the two countries being suffi- 
ciently consolidated in their government, to preclude 
any hope of change being therein effected by the other, 
prelimiiiari(.'s of peace were signed at Loudon, on the 
1st of October, between M. Otto and f^ord liawkes- 
bury. The news was received with extraordinary de- 
monstrations of jov by both nations. 

No further misunderstanding now existed between 



MEMOIRS OP FOUCHE. 151 

Russia and France, the first consul having neglected no- 
thing to gain the son and successor of Paul I. The 
Russian plenipotentiary, M. Marckof, employing his 
full powers immediately after the preliminaries of Lon- 
don, signed a definitive treaty of peace betvi'een the 
czar and the first consul, to be completed by a new 
treaty of commerce. 

This approximation, effected between France and 
Russia, was a master stroke for the first consul. The 
extension of his power both within and without, which 
he too much abused afterwards, must be dated from 
that fortunate epoch. It was not, however, without 
experiencing on the score of his treaty with Russia 
some opposition in the interior. 

When communicated to the Tribunat, where the most 
obstinate republicans held their sittings, this treaty was 
sent back to a commission charged to examine it, and 
report accordingly. In its report it declared that the 
word subject employed in it had excited surprise, inas- 
much as it did not accord with the idea they entertain- 
ed of the dignity of French citizens. It was requisite 
to discuss the treaty in private committee ; and there 
the tribunes did not the less persevere, in pronouncing 
the word subject to be improper, without, however, pre- 
tending that this was a sufficient motive for rejecting 
the treaty. 

In the privy council, which took place that evening, 
we had much difficulty in appeasing the first consul, 
who thought he perceived in the difficulty raised by the 
Tribunat, an intention to render him unpopular and 
shake his power. I represented to him with some en- 
ergy, after having made a summary of the state of opi- 
nion in the capital, that it was important to temporize 
Avith the remains ot" the republican spirit by an apparent 
deference. He concluded by yielding to my reasons. 
The counsellor of state, Fieurieu, was despatched to 
offer explanation to the Tribunat, by a note from the 
cabinet of the first consul, in which he declared, that 
for a long time the French government had abjured 



152 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the principle of dictating any kind of treaty, and that 
Russia having appeared to desire the mutual guarantee 
of the two governments against troubles interior and 
exterior, it had been agreed that neither should grant 
any kind of protection to the enemies of the other state ; 
and that it was for the purpose of stating this, that the 
articles in which the word subject had been employed 
were compiled. Every thing now appeared satisfacto- 
ry, and the treaty was approved by the legislative body. 

It occasioned in the cabinet a more serious incident, 
which excited in the highest degree the anger of the 
first consul. In the secret articles of the treaty, the 
two contracting parties mutually promised to arrange 
the affairs of Germany and Italy by common accord. 

It must be well understood how important it was to 
England to have certain proofs promptly furnished of 
the existence of this first link of a continental diploma- 
cy, which united to her detriment the political interest 
of the two most powerful empires of Europe, who by 
that means became arbiters of her excommunication. 
The secret articles were therefore sold to her for their 
■weight in gold ; and her cabinet, always very generous 
for similar disclosures, paid to the faithless betrayers 
the sum of sixty thousand pounds sterling. Being short- 
ly apprized of this diplomatic robbery, the first consul 
sent me to the Tuileries, and commenced by accusing at 
once the police, and his ministry of foreign affairs; the 
police, as incapable of preventing or discovering crimi- 
nal communications with foreigners; the ministry of M. 
de Talleyrand, as trafficking in affairs of state. I sup- 
ported my defence by instancing the intrigues of all pe- 
riods which no power could restrain; and when I ob- 
served that the suspicions of the first consul carried him 
too far, I did not hesitate to tell him that I had reason 
to believe, according to information given me, that the 
state secret had been stolen by M. R. L. confidential 
secretary of M. de Talleyrand, and afterwards sent 
either directly to England, or to M. le Comte d'An- 
traigues, agent of Louis XVI II. by M. B , the el- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 153 

der, one of the proprietors of the Journal des Debats, 

a particular friend of M. R. L — - I added that I 

had strong reasons to beheve that this individual was a 
secret correspondent of foreign powers, but that at all 
times it was difficult for the police to change data or 
simple indications into material proof; that it could only 
follow the track. The first impulse of the consul was 
to order the production of the two accused before a 
military commission ; I remonstrated; on his side M. de 
Talleyrand alleged that the secretary of M. de Marckof, 
or even perhaps of some clerk of the Russian office, 
might be equally suspected of this infidelity ; but there 
was not a sufficiently long interval from the signature 
to the publication to permit the surmise that it had 
gone to St. Petersburgh previous to reaching London. 

But, however that may be, M. K. L. received an or- 
der of banishment and went to Hamburgh ; M. B., the 
elder, was in appearance worse treated ; the gens- 
d'armes deported him from brigade to brigade to the 
Isle of Elba. There his exile w^as singularly mitigated. 

I did not fail in the course of this affair to remind the 
first consul that he had formerly laid it down as a max- 
im in haute diplomatie, that after the lapse of forty 
days there was oo longer any secret in Europe for ca- 
binets directed by statesmen. It was on this basis that 
he afterwards wished to erect his diplomatic chancery. 

In the interim, the Marquis of Cornwallis came to 
France as plenipotentiary ambassador to negotiate a defi- 
nitive peace. He went to Amiens, the spot selected for 
the conferences; but the treaty expei'ienced unexpected 
delays, which did not prevent the first consul from in- 
dustriously pursuing two projects of great importance, 
one relative to Italy, the other to St. Domingo. I shall 
have occasion to speak of the first; as to the second, 
the execution of whicli Bonaparte considered as most 
urgent, its object was the re-conquest of the colony of 
Saint Domingo, over which the armed negroes maintain- 
ed the authority of masters. 

I did not participate in this respect the views of the 
20 



154 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

privy council, nor of the council of state, where my an- 
cient colleague and friend, M. Malouet, a man of ho- 
nourable character, had just taken his seat ; but he 
looked at this great affair of St. Domingo with prejudi- 
ces which impaired the rectitude of his judgment. His 
plans, chiefly directed against the liberty and power of 
the negroes, prevailed in part, and were ruined by the 
awkwardness and unskilfulness of our etats-majors. I 
received from Sonthonax, formerly so celebrated at St. 
Domingo, some Vt^ell-written and soundly-reasoning me- 
moirs respecting the method to be pursued for resum- 
ing our influence ; but Sonthonax was himself in so 
much disgrace that he had no means of getting the first 
consul to relish his ideas ; he even gave me a formal 
order to banish him from Paris. Fleurieu, Malouet, 
and all the colonial party, carried the day. It was de- 
cided that after conquest, slavery should be maintained, 
conformably to the laws and regulations anterior to 1789, 
and that the trade in blacks and their importation should 
take place according to the existing laws at that epoch. 
The result is known ; the loss of our armament and the 
humiliation of our arms. But the true cause of this 
disastrous expedition must be sought in the impulses of 
the first consul's heart ; in this respect, Berthier and 
Duroc knew more than the minister of police. But 
could I be mistaken for a moment ? The first consul ar- 
dently seized the happy occasion of sending away a 
great number of regiments and general officers formed 
in the school of Moreau, whose reputation pained him, 
and whose influence with the army, if not a subject of 
alarm, was at least to him one of vexation and inquie- 
tude. He equally comprised in the expedition the ge- 
neral officers whom he judged to be not sufficiently de- 
voted to his person and interest, or whom he considered 
still attached to republican institutions. The malcon- 
tents, who have always more or less fervour in public 
opinion, no longer kept any measures with respect to 
this subject; and such were the rumours that my po- 
lice bulletins became frightfully imbued with truth. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 155 



t 



" Well," said Bonaparte to me one day, " your jacobins 
malignantly allege that they are the soldiers and friends 
of Moreau, whom I am sending to perish at St. Domin- 
go ; they are grumbling maniacs. Let them jabber as 
much as they like. No government. could proceed if 
people were to allow themselves to be impeded by de- 
famation and calumnies. Only endeavour to create for 
me a better public spirit." " That miracle," I replied, 
" is reserved for you, and it will not be your first essay 
in that department." 

When every thing was ready, the expedition, con- 
sisting of twenty-three ships of the line, and twenty-two"^ 
thousand men, sailed from Brest in order to reduce the 
colony. There was an assurance of the assent of Eng- 
land, for the peace was not yet concluded 

Before the signature of the definitive treaty, Bona- 
parte put the second project which had engaged his at- 
tention into execution. A consulte of Cisalpins having 
been convoked at Lyon, he went there in pefson in 
January, 1802, was received with much pomp, open- 
ed the consulte, and got himself elected president, not 
of the Cisalpine republic, but of the Italian; thus re- 
vealing his ulterior views upon the whole of Italy. On 
the other hand, the same republic, the independence of 
which was guaranteed by treaty, beheld French troops 
establishing themselves on her territory instead of eva- 
cuating it ; it thus became an appendage of France, or 
rather of Bonaparte's power. 

In arrogating to himself the presidency of Italy he 
had authorized the rupture of the negotiations ; but he 
was in this respect without any fear, well knowing that 
the English ministry were not in a condition to resist, 
and moreover supporting himself by the secret stipula- 
tions consented to by Russia. There was so general 
a persuasion of the necessity of peace in England, and 
of the impossibility of obtaining better conditions by a 
protracted contest, that Lord Cornwallis, on the 25th 
of March, took upon himself to sign the definitive trea- 
ty known under the name of the peace of Amiens, which 



156 BIEMOIRS OF FOt^CHE. 

concluded a nine years' war, as bloody as it was de- 
structive. 

It was obvious to any statesman that the condition in 
which Malta was left, was the weak part of the treaty. 
I expressed this opinion frankly in the council; but the 
public mind was in such a state of intoxication after the 
signature of the preliminaries, that my precaution was 
considered unseasonable and vexatious. 1 nevertheless 
observed, in the debates of the British parliament, that 
one of the most considerable cabinet ministers of that 
country vievvcd in the same light as I did the stipula- 
tions relative to the possession of Malta. In general, 
the new opposition of the old ministers and their friends 
considered the peace as an armed truce, the duration of 
which was incompatible with the honour and prosperity 
of Great Britain. In fact, of all her conquests, she 
only preserved Trinidad and Ceylon, while France re- 
tained all hers. On our side, moreover, peace was a 
triumph to the principals of our revolution which de- 
rived stability from the brilliancy and charm of success. 
Besides it was in reality a lucky hit for Bonaparte. 

But could it be fancied that he would employ it for 
the good of France ? I had seen and known enough of 
bim to believe that he would employ it in order to per- 
petuate and corroborate his authority. It was also ob- 
vious to me, that the enlightened class of the English 
nation, and the friends of liberty in France, did not 
without regret survey an event which seemed for ever 
to consolidate the power of the sword. 

I commenced this new era by communicating to Bo- 
naj)arte a memoire, which I had taken pains to have 
required of me by him on the subject of the interior 
establishment of peace. 

After having pointed out there the shades and vicis- 
situdes of opinion, and the last agitations of different 
parties, I represented that France could in a few years 
obtain the same preponderance over Pacific Europe, as 
her victories had given her over Europe in arms; that 
the gratitude and submission of France applied less to 



MEMOIRS GF FOUCHE. 157 

the warrior, than to the restorer of social order; that 
called to preside over the destinies of thirty millions of 
Frenchmen, he ought to make it his study to become 
their benefactor and father, rather than consider him- 
self as a dictator and military chief ; that if decided 
henceforth to become the protector of religion, good 
morals, the arts, the sciences, all that improves society, 
he would be sure by his example, to prompt all French- 
men to the observance of the laws, decorum, and do- 
mestic virtue: that, in fine, with respect to the exterior 
relations of France, there was every security, France 
having never been either so great or so powerful since 
Charlemagne; that she had just established a durable 
order of things in Germany and Italy; that she had 
disposed of Spain ; that she, moreover, had re-disco- 
vered among the Turks that ancient good feeling which 
attached them to the French ; that, besides, the auxili- 
ary states established beyond the Rhine and the Alps 
as a barrier, expected nothing at his hand but salutary 
modifications and reforms ; that, in a word, his glory 
and the interest of the world required the consolidation 
of a state of peace which was also necessary to the well- 
being of the republic. 

1 knew that we sympathized with the development 
of his secret views. For more than a year past he had 
heen prompted by the advice of the consuls Lebrun 
and Cambaceres, and the counsellor of state, Po^talis, 
to a design of re-establishing and recalling all the emi- 
grants into the bosom of their country. Many projects 
on this subject had been read in council : personally 
consulted on these great measures, I immediately admit- 
ted that religion could not be neglected by the govern- 
ment of the first consul, and if established by his hands, 
she might afford him substantial support. But I did 
not share the opinion that we ought to come to a con- 
cordat with the court of Rome, to the effect of which 
there was a project presented. I represented that it 
was a great political error to introduce into the bosom 
of a state, where the principles of the revolution had 



15B MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

prevailed, a foreign domination, capable of giving trou- 
ble ; that the intervention of the head of the Roman 
church was at least superfluous ; that it would conclude 
by causing embarrassments and probably disputes ; that 
moreover it was reviving in the state that mixture of 
the spiritual and the temporal, which was at once ab- 
surd and fatal ; that all that was necessary was to pro- 
claim the free exercise of public worship, but securing 
revenues and salaries for that worship which the majo- 
rity of Frenchmen professed. 

I perceived shortly that this project was nothing 
more than a stepping stone to another project of still 
higher importance, and of which the poet Fontanes had 
suggested the idea. He had remitted to the first con- 
sul by his sister Eliza to whom he was attached, an 
elaborate me moire, and which had for its object to in- 
duce hirri to follow the model of Charlemagne in em- 
ploying great officers and priests for the re-establish- 
ment of his empire, and for this purpose to avail him- 
self of the aid of the Roman see, as Pepin and Charle- 
magne had given the example. 

The re-establishment of the Empire of Charlemagne 
had also occurred to my thoughts, with this difference, 
that the poet Fontanes and his party wished to employ 
the elements of the ancient regime for the purpose of 
this resurrection, while I maintained that it was requi- 
site to employ the men and the principles of the revolu- 
tion. I did not pretend to exclude the old royalists 
from participation in the government, except in such a 
proportion as should always leave them in the minority. 
This project, moreover, (and it was that which had 
most charms for Bonaparte) appeared to me premature 
in reference to its execution ; it required to be matured, 
prepared, and brought forward with great address. I 
caused it to be postponed. 

But in other respects, my system of discretion and 
delay ill accorded with that impatience and decision of 
will which characterized 'the first consul. Ever since 
the month of June in the preceding year (1801,) Car- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 159 

dinal Gonsalvi, secretary of state to the court of Rome, 
had come to Paris by his invitation, and there had 
drawn the bases of a convention, which the first consul 
made known to his council of state on the 10th of Au- 
gust following. 

The philosophical party, of which I passed for the 
protector, had exhibited indocility, and in the council 
itself had represented, that however powerful the first 
consul was, it was necessary to take precautions in 
effecting the re-establishment of the Catholic worship, 
since they had not only to fear the opposition of the old 
partisans of philosophical and republican ideas, which 
were in great numbers among the public authorities, 
but also that of the chief military men who manifested 
great opposition to religious ideas. Yielding to the de- 
sire of not losing a part of his popularity by giving too 
abrupt a shock to prejudices which had their source in 
the condition of society, the first consul, in conjunction 
with his council, consented to delay the re-establish- 
ment of the peace of the church, and to cause it to be 
preceded by the publication of a maritime peace. 

On this occasion I obtained concessions with more 
facility on the subject of a measure relative to the emi- 
grants. 

Here my functions placed me in a condition to exer- 
cise still greater influence; and therefore, my views, 
embraced in two memoires, with some slight modifica- 
tions, prevailed. 

The list of the emigrants, which composed nine vo- 
lumes, exhibited a nomenclature of about 150,000 indi- 
viduals ; out of which there was no necessity for regu- 
lating the lot of more than 80,000 at the utmost. The 
rest had successively returned or perished. 1 succeed- 
ed in obtaining an order that no emigrants should be 
definitively erased en masse, except by an act of amnes- 
ty ; and that they should remain for ten years under 
the surveillance of the high police, reserving to myself 
the right of keeping them at a distance from their or- 
dinary residence. Many categories of emigrants, at- 



160 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

tached to French princes, and who remained enemies 
of the government, were finally retained on the list to 
the amount of a thousand persons, of whom five hun- 
dred were to be designated in the current era. There 
was an important exception to the restitution of undis- 
posed-of property, belonging to erased emigrants ; 
namely, that of Avoods and forests, comprising four hun- 
dred acres ; but this exception was nearly delusive with 
regard to old families. The first consul, of his own free 
will, authorized frequent restitution of plantations, in 
order to obtain creatures among the restored emigrants. 

It had been equally decreed, that the promulgation 
of this law of amnesty should be deferred to a general 
peace, as well as a project of a law for the establishment 
of a legion of honour. We at length reached the epoch 
so impatiently expected for the display of these great 
measures. From the 6th of April, 1802, the concordat, 
on ecclesiastical affairs, signed on the preceding 15th 
July, was sent for approbation to an extraordinary assem- 
bly of the legislative body. It received the vote of the 
Tribunat through the organ of Lucien Bonaparte, who, 
on his return from Madrid, had taken his place among 
the tribunes. .On this occasion, he emphatically pro- 
nounced an eloquent discourse, polished by the poet 
Fontanes, whose pen had become devoted to a torrent 
of new power, which was about in his case to become a 
golden Pactolus. 

Easter Sunday was selected for the solemn promul- 
gation of the concordat, which was done at the Tuile- 
ries by the first consul in person, in the first instance, 
and repeated throughout the Avhole of Paris by the 
twelve mayors of the capital. A religious ceremony 
was got up at Notre Dame, to return thanks to Heaven, 
as well for tiie conclusion of the treaty of Amiens as of 
that of the concordat. I had informed the consuls that 
they would only be attended by the generals and officers 
on service ; a kind of league having been formed among 
the superior officers who were then in Paris, not to assist 
at the solemnity. An expedient was quickly devised, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE; l6l 

for it was not safe yet awhile to employ constraint 
Berthier, in his character of war-minister, invited all the 
superior generals and officers to a splendid military 
breakfast, at the conclusion of which, he placed himself 
at the head, and induced them to go to the Tuileries, in 
order to pay their respects to the first consul. There 
Bonaparte, whose cavalcade was ready, desired them to 
follow him to the metropolitan church, and none oj^them 
dared to refuse. Through his progress, he was saluted 
by public acclamations. 

The re-establishment of Catholicism was followed 
closely by a senatus-consulte, in granting an amnesty to 
the emigrants. This act, which was very much cried 
up, singularly alarmed the acquisitionists of national 
property. It required all the firmness of the adminis- 
tration, and all the vigilance of my ministry, to obviate 
the serious inconveniences which might have resulted 
from collisions between the old and new proprietors. 
I was seconded by my colleagues of the home depart- 
ment, and the council of state, which regulated the 
jurisprudence of the matter in favour of the interest of 
the revolution. 

It was obvious that the revolution was on the defen- 
sive, and the republic without guarantee or security. 
All the designs of the first consul tended to transform 
the government into a monarchy. 

The institution of the legion of honour was also at 
that epoch a subject of alarm and inquietude to the 
ancient friends of liberty ; it was generally regarded as 
a monarchical play-thing which impaired those princi- 
pals of equality which had obtained so easy a possession 
of the public mind. This disposition of public opinion, 
which I did not allow to remain in the dark, made no 
impression on the mind of the first consul, nor on that 
of his brother Lucien, who was a great promoter of the 
project ; the absurdity was pushed so far as to have it 
represented on government authority by Roederer, a 
salaried orator, as an institution auxiliary to all republi- 
can laws. A strong and well argued opposition was 
21 



162 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

found in the Tribunal ; the law was designated as at- 
tacking the foundations of public liberty. But the 
government had already in its hands so many elements 
of power, that it was sure to reduce all opposition to 
a feeble minority. 

I perceived, day by day, how much easier it was to 
get npssession of the sources of opinion in the civil 
hierarchy than in the military order, whei'e the oppo- 
sition was not less serious for being less perceptible. 
The counter-police of the palace was too active, and too 
vigilant in this respect ; the officers called malcontents 
were suspended, exiled, or imprisoned. But the discon- 
tent soon degenerated into irritation among the generals 
and colonels, who, deeply imbued with republican ideas, 
saw clearly that Bonaparte only trampled on our insti- 
tutions in order to advance more freely to absolute 
power. 

For some time past, it was notorious that he concert- 
ed measures with his partisans for acquiring, under legi- 
timate pretences, a perpetuity of power. It was in 
vain I represented in the council that a fitting time was 
not yet come, that public opinion was not sufficient 
maturely to estimate the advantages of monarchical 
stability; that there would be even a risk of disgusting 
the elite oi the army, and those individuals from whom 
the first consul derived his temporary power; that if 
he had, till now, exercised it to public satisfaction, be- 
cause he had, at the same time, exhibited himself in 
the character of a moderate ruler and skilful general, 
he ought to take care not to lose the advantages of so 
splendid a position by placing himself either in too nar- 
row a defile or on too rapid an aclivity. But I made 
very little impression ; I was not even long in perceiving 
that a kind of reserve was maintained towards me, and 
that, in addition to the deliberations of the privy council, 
mysterious conferences were held at the house of Cam- 
baceres. 

1 penetrated into the secret, and desiring to act as 
much in favour of the first consul's interest, as well a? 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 36-3 

of the state, I Imparted, with as much discretion as 
possible, a particular impulse to my friends who had 
seats in the senate. 

My object was to counteract and invalidate the plans 
concerted at the house of Cambaceres, and of which I 
had evil forebodings. 

Our friends, on the same day, dispersed themselves 
about among the most influential and most accredited 
senators. There crying up Bonaparte, who, after having 
established a general peace, was about to re-erect our 
altars, and attempt to heal the last wounds of our civil 
discords, these wise organs added, that the first consul 
held the reins of government with a firm hand, that his 
administration was irreproachable, and thai it apper- 
tained to the senate to fulfil the general wish by pro- 
longing the supreme power beyond the ten years of his 
magistracy ; that this act of national gratitude would 
have the double advantage of imparting more weight 
to the senate, and more stability to the government. 
Our friends took special care to have it thought that 
they were the organs of the desires of the first consul ; 
and the success, at first, surpassed our hopes. 

.Oil the 8th of May the conservative senate assembled, 
and wishing, in the name of the French people, to tes- 
tify its gratitude to the consuls of the republic, issued 
the senatus consultum which re-elected citizen Bonaparte 
first consul for ten years beyond the ten years fixed by 
the article 34 of the additional act of the 13th of 
December, 1799. A message immediately communi- 
cated this decree to the first consul, the legislative body, 
and the Tribunal. 

It would have been necessary to have witnessed, like 
me, all the indications which the first consul gave of 
distaste and constraint, to conceive an idea of them. 
His partisans were in consternation. The reply to the 
message was couched in ambiguous terms ; it was insi- 
nuated that the senate dispensed the public remunera- 
tion with too niggardly a hand ; a tone of hypocritical 
sentiment reigned throughout : and this prophetic phrase 



164 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

was remarked, " fortune has smiled upon the repubh'c, 
but fortune is fickle ; and how many men have there 
been loaded with her favours who have lived too long 
bj several years." 

It was nearly the same language as Augustus em- 
ployed in a similar situation. — But the ten surplus years, 
added by the senate to his actual power, could not satisfy 
the impatient ambition of the first consul ; he saw nothing 
in this act of prolongation than a first step in order to 
assist him in more rapidly ascending the summit of power. 
Resolved on seizing it with the same ardour as on the 
field of battle, he two days after, that is to say on the 
10th of oVlay, urged the two other consuls, whom the 
constitution invested with no authoritj^, to institute a 
decree purporting that the French people should be 
consulted on this question : — " Shall Napoleon Bonaparte 
be consul for life ?" The reading of this decree, and of 
the letter of the first consul to the senate, was going on 
when I arrived to take ray seat. I must confess, in my 
turn, that it was requisite for me to employ all my inter- 
nal energy to restrain within rae'lhe feelings by which I 
was agitated during the reading. I perceived that all 
was over, but that it was still necessary to make a 
stand, in order to moderate, if possible, the rapid inva- 
sion of a power henceforward divested of counterpoise. 

This act of fraudulent intrusion, caused at first, 
among the primary authorities, a rather unfavoura- 
ble impression. But already the springs of action were 
prepared. 

In a short time the senate, the legislative body, and 
the Tribunat, were canvassed with a venal success. It 
was demonstrated to the senate, that what it had done 
was considerably behind what was expected of it ; it 
was proved to the legislative body and the Tribunat, 
that the first consul, in wishing the French people to 
be consulted, did no more than pay due homage to the 
sovereignty of the French people, to that grand princi- 
ple which the revolution had so solemnly consecrated, 
and which had survived so many political hurricanes. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 165 

The captious arguments obtruded by the confidents and 
hireh'ngs obtained the adherents of the majority ; to 
those who objected, it was thought sufficient to say, let 
us wait, the nation will definitively decide. 

While the registers devoted to the inscription of the 
public votes were ridiculously opened in the secretari- 
ats of all the departments of government, in the offices 
of all the tribunals, of all the mayors, and of all the 
public functionaries, there happened a serious incident 
Avhich transpired, notwithstanding all the care that was 
taken to suppress the particulars. At a dinner, at 
which were assembled some twenty discontented offi- 
cers, along with some old republicans and violent patri- 
ots, the ambitious projects of the first consul Avere 
brought upon the tapis without compromise. When 
their spirits had once become elevated by the fumes of 
wine, some of the parties went so far as to say, that it 
was indispensable to make the new Csesar a participa- 
tor in the same destiny as the old, not at the senate, 
where there were nothing but subjected and slavish 
spirits, but in the middle of the army, at a grand pa- 
rade at the Tuileries. So great was the excitement, 
that a colonel of the 12th regiment of hussars, Four- 
nier Sarlovese, famous at that time for his ability as a 
good shot, affirmed, that he would pledge himself not 
to miss Bonaparte at fifty paces' distance. Such was 
at least the imprudent proposal that L., another of the 
guests, maintained on the same evening, to have heard, 
and went immediately to denounce to his friend Gene- 
ral Menou, with the intention of obtaining access "ty 
his means to the first consul ; for Menou, since his re- 
turn from Egypt was in high favour. In fact, he him- 
self took the informer to the Tuileries, and arrived 
there at the same moment, in which Bonaparte was 
about to enter his carriage, in order to go to the ope- 
ra. The first consul heard the accusation, gave orders 
to his military police, and immediately proceeded to his 
box at the theatre. He was there informed that Co^ 
lonel Fournier was at that time in the pit. The or^ 



166 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

der was instantly given to his aid-de-camp, Junot, to 
arrest and carry him before me, as a person accused of 
conspiracy against the exterior and interior safety of 
the state. 

Apprised beforehand of the imprudent and blama- 
ble intemperance of language of five or six weak heads, 
heated by wine, by recollections of liberty, by the open 
or tacit approbation of some twenty guests, I interro- 
gated, and reprimanded the colonel ; I listened to the 
expression of his repentance, while I did not disguise 
that his affair might become extremely serious after an 
examiination of his papers. He assured me that he 
feared nothing on that head. 

I thought at first of hushing up the matter, by re- 
ducing the rigour of the first consul into a simple raili-^ 
tary correction. But here an accident occurred to ag- 
gravate the offence. The colonel passed the night at 
the prefecture, and the next day police agents conduct- 
ed him to his own house, in order to assist in the exa- 
mination of his papers. Although there was no indica- 
;tion of any meditated attempt, the idea that verses, cou- 
plets, directed against Bonaparte, might be found there, 
^ame into his head. What was he to do ! Without 
permitting his design to be suspected, he locked his 
Iceepers m his room and made his escape. The rage 
4)f the first consul may be conceived. Luckily, it had 
to vent itself against the stupidity of the agents of the 
prefecture, and that I, on my side, had the evening be^- 
iore addressed him irrefragable proof, that the indis- 
iCretion of the military dinner had come to my know- 
ledge. Nothing could have excused me, if so culpable 
a conversation, carried on before so large a number of 
assembled persons, had come to the ears of the chief 
magistrate without the head of the police first obtain- 
ing intelligence of it. I carried in the papers of the 
colonel whose hiding-place I undertook to find ; and I 
entreated him, after the examination, not to give the 
affair the importance of a conspiracy, as it would be 
doubly impolitic, first with regard to the army, and 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 167 

next with reference to the first consul's position, con- 
trasted as it Was with that of the whole nation convok- 
ed to give its suffrage on the question of the consulship 
for life. As I had undertaken, the colonel was disco- 
vered and arrested, but with a military display which 
to me appeared ridiculous. The chef d' escadron, Don- 
nadieu, since become a general, and the same who is 
now called a celebrated one, was simultaneously arrest- 
rested, and sent with Colonel Fournier to a dungeon in 
the temple. Thanks to my representations, the catas- 
trophe was not tragical ; it was only distinguished by 
destitutions, exile, and disgrace, accompanied by recom- 
pense to the informer. 

The first consul only pursued the object of his am- 
bition with more fervour. All the solicitude of the 
ministry was, during six weeks, devoted to collecting 
and transcribing the registers in which the suffrages for 
the consulship for life were inscribed. Got up by a 
special committee, the proces-verbal exhibited 3,568,185 
votes in the affirmative, and only 9,074 in the negative^ 
On the 2d August, a senatus consultmn, called organic, 
conferred the perpetual power on the first consul Bo- 
naparte. Very little importance was attached to the 
manner in which this proceeding was managed. The 
greater part of the citizens who had voted in favour of 
investing him with the chief magistracy for life, consid- 
ered themselves as re-establishing the monarchial sys- 
tem in France, and with its stability and repose. The 
senate believed, or feigned to believe, that NapoleoD 
was obeying the popular will, and that sufficient guar- 
rantecs had been given in his reply to the message of 
the first body in the state. " Liberty," said the first 
consul, " equality, the prosperity of France shall be se- 
cured. — Satisfied," he added, with a tone of inspiration, 
" of being elected by the order of that power from 
whence all emanates, to restore order, justice, and equa- 
lity, on the earth." 

Without reference to this concluding passage, the 
vulgar might really believe him born to command the 



168 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

universe, so singular were the ways by which his for- 
tune had arrived at the highest point of elevation ; and 
so much capacity did he demonstrate in governing men 
■with eclat. Perhaps more fortunate than Alexander 
and Caesar, he might have reached and embraced the 
great chimera of^ universal power, if his passions had 
not obscured his views, and if the thirst of tyrannical 
domination had not concluded by revolting the popular 
miad. 

All was not yet accomplished in this quackery of the 
consulship for life ; and, on the 6th of August, an orga- 
nic senatus considtum of the constitution of the year 13, 
made its appearance from the workshop of the two 
journeymen consuls, elaborated by the familiars of the 
cabinet, and proposed in the name of the government. 

Since the French enthusiastically adopted the govern- 
ment to be in future comprised in the person of the first 
consul, he took care not to give them time to cool ; he 
was moreover persuaded, that his authority would never 
be entirely established while there remained in the 
state a power which did not directly emanate from 
himself. 

Such was the spirit of the senatus consulta of the 6th 
of August, imposed on the senate. It may be consider- 
ed as a fifth constitution, by which Bonaparte became 
master of the majority of votes in the senate, as well for 
the elections as for the deliberations, reserving to the 
senators henceforward under his thumb, the right of 
changing the public institutions by means of organic sena- 
tus consulta ; reducing the Tribunat to a nullity ; by di- v 
minishing one half of the members by dismission ; by 
depriving the legislative body of the right of approv- 
ing ; and, finally, by concentrating all the powers of go- 
vernment in his single will. Moreover, the council of 
state was recognised as a constituted authority ; finally, 
the consul for life caused himself to be invested with 
the noblest prerogative of sovereign authority, the 
right of pardoning. He recompenced the services and 
the docility of the two consuls, his acolytes, by also in- 

\ 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 169 

vesting them for life with their consular functions. 
Such was the fifth constitution, extorted from a people 
as full of levitj as want of reflection, which possessed 
very few correct ideas respecting political and social 
organization, and which proceeded, without pausing, 
from a republic to an empire. One step alone remain- 
ed to take, but who could prevent it. 

In my own secret mind I saw nothing in this result 
but an ill-formed and dangerous piece of workmanship, 
and I expressed that opinion without disguise. I said to 
the first consul himself that he had just declared himself 
the head of a transitory monarchy, which, according to 
my view, had no other basis but his victories and the 
sword. 

On the 15th of August, the anniversary of his birthj 
solemn prayers were offered up to God for having, in 
his ineffable bounty, granted to France an individual ca- 
pable of consenting to bear the burden of supreme pow- 
er for his whole life. 

The senatus consulttim, of the 6th of August, also con- 
ferred on the first consul the faculty of presiding over 
the senate. Compelled to employ it, and still more to 
sound the public feeling with regard to him, Bonaparte 
went in great pomp on the 21st to the Luxembourg, ac- 
companied by his two colleagues, his ministers, his council 
of state, and a brilliant escort. Troops under arms and 
in handsome uniform, lined both sides of the street from 
the Tuileries to the palace of the Luxembourg. Hav- 
ing taken his place, the first consul received the oath of 
all the senators ; M. de Talleyrand then read a report 
on the subject of the indemnities to be granted to the 
different princes of Germany, and moreover presented 
several projects of senatus consulta, among others, that 
which re-united to France the Isle of Elba, since be- 
come so famous as the first place of exile to the very 
individual who then was reputed the man of destiny. 
What a consideration ! What an association ! 

The procession, in going and returning, was not salut- 
ed by any acclamations, nor any sign of approbation on 



170 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the part of the people, notwithstanding the demonstra- 
tions and salutations made by the first consul, and espe- 
cially his brothers, to the crowd assembled behind the 
soldiers which lined the way. This melancholy silence, 
and the kind of ostentation which some of the citi- 
zens exhibited, of not wishing to show themselves at 
the procession of the chief magistrate, vehemently 
wounded the first consul. Perhaps, on this occasion he 
re-called to mind the well-known maxim, " The silence 
of the people is a lesson to kings;" a maxim which that 
very evening was placarded and read next day at the 
Tuileries and some of the public squares. 

As he did not fail to impute this chilling reception to 
the maladresse of administration, and the little zeal of 
his friends, I reminded him that he had ordered me to 
prepare nothing factitious, and I added, "Notwithstand- 
ing the fusion of the Gauls with the French, we always 
remain the same people ; we always remain like those 
ancient Gauls who were represented as incapable of 
bearing either liberty or oppression." — " What do you 
mean ?" he asked with animation. '* I mean to say that 
the Parisians have imagined they perceived, in the last 
modifications of government, the total loss of liberty, 
and too obvious a tendency towards absolute power." — 
"I should not," replied he, " have been able to govern 
six weeks in this pacific vacuum; if, instead of becom- 
ing the master, 1 had only remained the image of au- 
thority." — " But, be at once paternal, affable, strong, 
and just, and you will easily reconquer what you ap- 
pear to have lost." — " There is an oddity or caprice in 
public opinion; 1 shall be able to improve it;" he said 
to me as he turned his back. 

I had a secret presentiment that my dismissal was 
not far off; I no longer doubted of it after this last in- 
terview. Moreover, a knowledge of the manoeuvres of 
my enemies could not have escaped me ; I had power- 
ful ones who incessantly watched for an opportunity to 
overthrow me. My opposition to the last measures 
furnished them with a pretext. I had not only Lucien 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 171 

and Joseph against me, but 1 had also their sister, Eli- 
za, a woman at once haughtj , nervous, passionate, disso- 
lute, and devoured by the double hysterics* of love and 
ambition. She was influenced, as has been seen, by the 
poet Fontanes, in whom she was wrapped up, and to 
whom she, at that time, opened all the gates of favour 
and fortune. Timid and cautious in policy, Fontanes 
never acted himself except under the influence of a 
coterie, pretending to the title of religious and monar- 
chical ; this coterie controlled a portion of the journals, 
and had its own romantic author, making a poem of 
Christianity, and a jargon of the French tongue. Proud 
of his success, of his l^avour, and of his small literary 
senate, Fontanes was inflated to the last degree in be- 
ing able to introduce, to the illustrious imitator of 
Charlemagne, the literary novices, whose flights he su- 
perintended, and who thought that they, as well as he, 
had a call to reconstitute society with the decrepitudes 
of monarchy. 

This Celadon of literature, an author as elegant as 
pure, did not dare to attack me in front ; but in clan- 
destine memoirs which he remitted to the first consul, 
he cried down all the liberal doctrines and institutions, 
endeavouring to render all the men of mark produced 
by the revolution suspected, representing theoa as the 
inveterate enemies oi the unity of power. His theme 
and object was to restore Charlemagne in Napoleon, in 
order that the revolution might be appeased and merg- 
ed in a great and -powerful empire. This was the 
chimera of the day, or rather such was known to be the 
hobby of the first consul, and his intimate friends. On 

* In the first edition the printer had thought it better to substi- 
tute the word hocket for that of hoquet, which appeared to him im- 
proper in the sense in which Fouche employs it. This alteration 
was not happy ; we have replaced the word hoquet, a very singu- 
lar expression beyond a doubt, but which is, doubtless, that used by 
the Duke of Otranto. It is explained elsewhere by the species of 
convulsive hiccups, by which the sister of Bonaparte was really 
afflicted. — JVote hy the French Editor. 



172 MEMOLRS OF FOUCHE. 

this account all aspirers after places, favours, and for- 
tune, did not fail to model their plans and views on this 
basis, with more or less exaggeration and extravagance. 
Towards this period also appeared in the department 
of fabricating secret writings, the parophleteer F. origi- 
nally agent of the agents of Louis XVIIL, afterwards 
agent for Lucien at London at the time of the prelimi- 
naries, whence he had written in a tranchant and self- 
sufficient tone, wretched balderdash respecting the 
springs and operation of a government which he was 
riot m a condition to comprehend. Pensioned for some 
reports, which reached me anonymously from the cabi- 
net, he grew bold, and profiting by the favour of Lava- 
leite the post-master, he caused the first essays of a 
correspondence, which afterwards became more regu- 
lar to be conveyed to the first consul. Assuming the 
airs of office, he descanted right or wrong, on Char- 
lemagne, on Louis XIV., on the social order, talking of 
re-construction, unity of pov;er, the monarchy, all things 
be it remembered, quite incompatible with the jaco- 
bins, even with those whom he called with an assumed 
air of capacity the hommes forts of the revolution. 
This officious correspondent, while scraping together 
the reports of the saloons and coffee-houses, fabricated 
a thousand tales' dgiainst me and the general police, of 
which he made a bugbear; such were his instruc- 
tions.- 

At length all the materials being ready, and the oc- 
casion being favourable, (Duroc and Savary having 
been adroitly sounded;) it was resolved, in an assembly 
at Morfontaine, Joseph's residence, that in the next 
family council at which Cambaceres and Lebrun 
should assist, a memoir should be read, in which, with- 
out attacking me personally, an effort should be made 
to prove, that since the establishment of the consulate 
for life and the general peace, the ministry of police' 
was an useless and dangerous power ; useless against 
the royalists, who, now disarmed and subjected, only 
required to rally round the government; dangerous as 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 173 

being of republican institution, and forming the mock 
thunder of incurable anarchists who found therein pay 
and protection. From thence it was inferred that it 
would be impolitic 'to leave so gr6at a power in the 
hands of a single man ; that it was consigning to his 
mercy the whole machine of government. The pro- 
ject of Roederer, the factotum of Joseph, came next, 
the object of which was to concentrate the functions 
of the police in the minister of justice, namely in the 
hands of Regnier, under the name of grand judge. 

When I was informed of this hotch-potch, and be- 
fore the decree of the consul's was signed, 1 could not 
help telling my friends, that I was superseded by a 
grosse bete ; and it was true. The dull and heavy 
Regnier was never called by any other name from that 
time but that of the gros juge. 

I did nothing to parry the blow, so prepared was I 
for it. Accordingly my confidence and tranquillity as- 
tonished the first consul, who, at the end of my final 
task, said to me : " M. Fouche, you have well served the 
government, which will not confine itself to the rewards 
which it has just conferred upon you; for from this 
time you will constitute a portion of the first body of 
the state. It is with regret that I part with a man of 
your merit ; but it has been indispensable to prove to 
Europe, that I have frankly united with the pacific sys- 
tem, and that I confidently repose on the love of French- 
men. In the new arrangement which I have just de- 
creed, the police will henceforward be no more than a 
branch of the ministry of justice ; and that will be no 
sufficient field for you. But be assured that I will nei- 
ther renounce your counsels nor your services — there is 
no dismissal in this case ; and do not suffer yourself to 
be annoyed by the idle gossip of the saloons of the 
Faubourg Saint Germain, nor by that of the pot-houses 
where the old orators of the clubs assemble, at whom 
we have so often laughed together." 

After thanking him for the testimonials of satisfaction 
which he deigned to give me, I did not dissembl^ that 



174 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the changes which he had thought fit to decide on, had 
bj no means taken me by surprise, — "• What you had* 
some idea of it ?" exclaimed he ; " Without being pre- 
cisely sure," I rephed, " I had prepared myself for it, 
in consequence of certain hints and whisperings, which 
reached my ears." 

I begged him to believe that no personal interest en- 
tered into the composition of my regret ; that I was 
only moved by the extreme solicitude which I had al- 
ways felt for his person and governm.ent ; that these 
sentiments induced me to beg permission to send him in 
writing my last reflections on the present condition of 
affairs. " Communicate to me all you wish, citizen se- 
nator," he rejoined ; " all that comes from you will al- 
ways attract my notice." 

I requested and obtained an audience for the next 
day, in which I proposed to furnish him with a detailed 
statement of the state of the secret funds belonging to 
,my department. 

1 went immediately to compile my closing report, for 
which I had already provided notes ; it was brief and 
nervous. I began by representing to the first consul 
that to my view nothing was less certain than the con- 
tinuance of peace, a circumstance which I endeavoured 
to prove by laying open the germs of more than one 
future war. I added, that in such a state of things, and 
while public opinion was not favourable to the encroach- 
ments of power, it would be impolitic to divest the 
supreme magistracy of the security afforded by a vigi- 
lant police ; that far from slumbering in imprudent se- 
curity at a moment when the permanence of the execu- 
tive authority had been abruptly decided, it was expe- 
dient to conciliate public opinion and attach all parties 
to the new order of things ; that this could not be 
effected, except by abjuring all kinds of prejudices and 
distastes against particular men ; that while disapproving 
the measures which had prevailed in the council, I had 
always expressed myself with a view to the interest of 
the first consul, as those of his most devoted and inti- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 175 

mate servants may also have done ; that our intentions 
were in all cases the same, but our views and measures 
were different ; tnat if there was a perseverance in 
erroneous views, the issue would be without intending it 
an intolerable oppression or a counter revolution ; that 
it was more especially indispensable to avoid transmit- 
ting the public affairs to the mercy of imprudent hands, 
or of a coterie of political eunuchs, who, at the first 
shock, would surrender the state to royalists and foreign- 
ers; that it was in bold opinions and in new-created in- 
terest that a substantial support was to be looked for; 
that the support of the army would not suffice to main- 
tain a power, too colossal not to excite the greatest 
alarm in Europe ; that too much solicitude could not be 
shown not to commit the new destinies of France to the 
chances of new wars, which would of necessity flow 
from the armed truce in wiiich the respective powers 
at present reposed ; that before re-entering the arena, 
it was requisite to be assured of the affection of the in- 
terior, and to rally round government, not disturbers, 
anarchists, and counter revolutionists, but straightfor- 
ward men of character, who would find no security nor 
well being for themselves except by maintaining it ; that 
they were to be found among the men of 1789, and all 
the discreet friends of liberty, who, detesting the excess- 
es of the revolution, looked to the establishment of a 
strong and moderate government ; and, in fine, that in 
the precarious situation in which France and Europe 
then were, the chief of the state could not retain his 
sword in the scabbard and resign himself to a satisfac- 
tory security except when surrounded by his friends, and 
preserved by them. Then came the application of my 
views and my system to the different parties which di- 
vided, parties whose passions and colours, it is true, be- 
came weaker and weaker every day ; but whom a 
shock, an imprudence, repeated faults, and a new war, 
might awaken and bring into collision. 

The next day 1 remitted to him this memoir, which 
was in some sort my political testament ; he received it 



1^0 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

with an aflfected affability. I nest brought under his 
notice a detailed account of my secret^ management ; and 
seeing with surprise that I had an enormous reserve of 
near two millions four hundred thousand francs, " Citi- 
zen senator," said he to me, " I shall be more generous 
and equitable than Sieyes was in respect to the poor 
devil Roger Ducos, in appropriating to himself the 
amount of the funds of the expiring directory ; keep 
the half of the sum which you consigned to me ; it is 
not too much as a mark of my personal and private sat- 
isfaction; the other half will go into the fund of my pri- 
vate police, which, in conformity with your sagacious ad- 
vice, will receive a new impulse, and on the subject of 
which I must entreat you to furnish me often with your 
ideas." 

Affected by this conduct, I thanked the first consul 
for thus raising me to the level of the best remunerated 
men of his government ; (he had just conferred upon 
me the senatorship of Aix ;) and I protested that 1 
should always remain devoted to the interest of his 
glory. 

1 was sincerely persuaded then, as I am now, that in 
suppressing the general police, he had no other view 
than to disembarrass himself of an institution, which be- 
ing incapable of saving what he had himself overthrown, 
appeared to him more formidable than useful ; it was 
the instrument which he at that time feared, more than 
the hands which controlled it.. But he had not the less 
yielded to an intrigue, by suffering himself to be delud- 
ed on the score of the motives alleged against me by 
my adversaries. In one word, Bonaparte, secured by 
the general peace against the machinations of the roy- 
alists, imagined that he had no longer any other ene- 
mies than those "t)f the revolution ; and as he was inces- 
santly told that these men were attached to a depart- 
ment of government, which, dating its birth from 
the revolution, protected its interest and defended its 
doctrines, he abolished it by that means, hoping to re- 
main the arbiter ^of the mode in which he should, from 
time to time, please to exercise his power. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 177 

I returned into private life with a feeling of content 
and domestic happiness, the sweets of which I had ac- 
customed myself to taste in the midst of the greatest 
aifairs. On the other hand, I found myself in so supe- 
rior a condition of fortune and consideration, that I felt 
myself to be neither injured nor fallen. My enemies 
were disconcerted by it. I even acquired in the senate 
a marked influence on the most honourable of my col- 
leagues, but I was in no way tempted to abuse it; I 
even abstained from turning it to profit, for 1 was aware 
that there were many eyes upon me. I passed happy 
days and nights in my estate of Pont Carre, seldom com- 
ing to Paris, in the autumn of 1802, when it pleased the 
first consul to give me a public mark of favour and con- 
fidence. I was called upon to constitute a part of a 
commission charged with holding a conference with the 
deputies of the different Swiss Cantons, a country too 
near France not to influence it by a powerful interfe- 
rence. By its geographical position, Switzerland ap- 
peared destined to be the bulwark of that most acces- 
sible part of France, which possesses no other military 
frontiers than its passes ; and if I may so say, no other 
sentinels than its peasantry. Under this point of view, 
the political situation of Switzerland had two more 
claims on the attention of the first consul, since he had 
not a little contributed after the peace of Campo For- 
mic, to induce the directory to invade and occupy it in 
a military manner. His experience, and the compre- 
hension of his views, caused him to perceive that this 
once it was expedient to avoid the same errors and the 
same excesses. His measures were much more adroit 
and skilful. 

The independence of Switzerland had just been re- 
cognised by the treaty of Luneville ; this treaty secur- 
ed 1o her the right of providing herself with such a 
government as best suited her. She thought herself in- 
debted to the first consul for her independence; and he 
fully expected that the Swiss would make an abusive 
exercise of their emancipation. In fact, they \vere torn 
23 



178 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

to pieces by two opposite factions ; namely, the unionist 
or democratic party, which desired a repubhc one and 
indivisible ; and the federahst party, or the men of the 
old aristocracy, who demanded the ancient institutions. 
The unionist party was engendered by the French re- 
volution ; the other was that of the ancien regime, and 
it leant secretly towards Austria ; between these two 
factions the moderate or neutral party balanced. Aban- 
doned to themselves, during the year 1802, the unionists 
and the federalists came to blows, and civil war, by 
turns secretly encouraged by our minister Verninac, in 
conformity with the instructions of the cabinet of the 
Tuileries, the policy of which tended to a denouement 
calculated with art, and on that account inevitable. 
The federalist party having got the upper hand, the 
unionists threw themselves into the arms of France. 
This was what the first consul expected. He suddenly 
caused his aid-de-camp Rapp to make his appearance, 
as the bearer of a proclamation, in which he spoke in 
the tone of a master rather than a mediator, ordering 
all the parties to lay down their arms, and causing a 
military occupation of Switzerland by a corps d'armee 
under the orders of General Ney. In yielding to force, 
the last federative diet yielded none of its rights. On 
that account the confederated cantons were treated as 
conquered countries ; and Bonaparte was seen to pro- 
ceed to his task of mediator as if he were going to a con- 
quest which was the prize of his achievements. In this 
manner the last efforts of the Swiss to recover their 
ancient laws and government became abortive. 

The delegates of the two parties had their rendez- 
vous at Paris, in order to implore the powerful interpo- 
sition of the mediator. Thirty-six deputies of the union- 
ists proceeded there. The federalists were more dila- 
tory, so much repugnance had they to a proceeding 
which they regarded as an humiliation ; their delegates 
nevertheless arrived, to the number of fifteen, and the 
whole were assembled at Paris in the month of Decem- 
ber. It was then that the first consul nominated the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 179 

commission charged with the function of conferring with 
them, and maturing such an act of mediation as should 
terminate the troubles of Switzerland. This commis- 
sion, over which the senator Barthelemi presided, was 
composed of two senators, the president and myself be- 
ing therein comprised, and of the two counsellors of 
state, Roederer and Demeunier. The choice of the 
president could not have been more happy. As well 
as the senator Barthelemi, I was assailed by the worthy 
Swiss, who resorted to us as if we composed an areopa- 
gus. It was in vain that I told them that all ulterior 
decision would depend on the will of the first consul, of 
which we were only the reporters; they persisted in 
attributing to me, in particular, a great influence ; my 
closet and ray salon were never empty. 

The conferences opened; and in the first sitting, held 
on the 10th of December, our president read to the 
delegates a letter in which the first consul disclosed to 
them his intention. " Nature," said he, " has made 
your state federative; the attempt to vanquish it would 
not be wise." This oracle was a thunderbolt for the 
unionist party; it was quite upset by it. However, to 
moderate the triumph of the federalists, who already 
conceived that the ancient order of things was about to 
revive, the consular letter added : — -" A renunciation of 
all privileges is your primary want, and your first duty." 
Thus there was an end of the ancient aristocracy. The 
close of the letter contained the express declaration 
that France and the Italian republic would never permit 
the establishment in Switzerland of a system tending to 
favour the interests of the enemies of Italy and France. 

I immediately proposed that the consulta should no- 
minate a commission of five members, with whom the 
consular commission and the first consul himself might 
confer. The next day, 12th of December, Bonaparte 
had a conference, in our presence, with the committee 
of the consulta, in which his intentions were more clearly 
expressed. A third party immediately formed itself, 
wnich concluded by supplanting the unionists and the 



180 BIEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

federalists, whom we had determined to neutralize. A 
tolerably strong o}3position of views and interests gave 
place to very animated discussions, which, sometimes in- 
terrupted and sometimes resumed, were protracted till 
the 24th of January, 1803. That day, the first consul put 
a stop to them, in causing the coosulta to be called upon 
to name commissioners who should receive from his 
hand the act of mediation which he had just completed 
(in conformity with our reports and views,) an act on 
which they would be permitted to offer their opinions. 
Convoked to a new conference which lasted nearly 
eight hours, the Swiss commissioners obtained different 
modifications in the project of the constitution ; and, on 
the 19th of February, received from the hand of the 
first consul, in a solemn sitting, the act of mediation 
•which was to govern their country. This act imposed 
a new federative compact on Switzerland; and, more- 
over, decided the particular constitution of each canton. 
The next morning, the consulta having been dismissed, 
the consular commission, of which I composed a part, 
closed its sittings and its proces-verbmix. 

Thus finished the interference of the French govern- 
ment with the internal affairs of Switzerland. 

It would be difficult, I imagine, to conceive a transi- 
tory regime, more conformable with the real wants of 
its inhabitants. Never besides did Bonaparte less abuse 
his vast preponderance ; and Switzerland is, without 
contradiction, of all states near or distant, over which he 
has exerted his influence, that to which he exhibited 
most keeping in his authority during the fifteen years of 
his ascendency and glory. In order to pay a proper 
tribute to truth, I will add, that the act of mediation in 
Switzerland was impregnated, as much as possible, with 
the conciliatory and characteristically moderate spirit 
of my colleague Barthelemi ; and 1 dare affirm, on my 
side, that I seconded his views to the utmost of my 
capacity and power. I had, on this subject, many par- 
ticular conferences with the first consul. 

But how little did his conduct, with reference to the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 181 

rest of Europe, resemble his moderate policy towards 
our neighbours the Swiss. 

Every thing had also been matured, in order to strike 
a powerful blow at the Germanic confederation, the 
demolition of which was about to be set on foot. The 
aifair of the indemnities to be given to those of the 
members of the Germanic body, who either entirely, 
or in part, had been deprived of their estates and pos- 
sessions, as well by various cessions as by the re-union 
of the left bank of the Rhine to France, had been sent 
back to an extraordinary deputation of the empire. 
The extraordinary commission was opened at Ratisbon 
in the summer of 1801, under the mediation of France 
and Russia. Its operations awakened all our intriguers 
in diplomacy ; they composed a mine of it, which they 
explored with an audacity Avhich at first revolted the 
chief magistrate, but which he could not repress, in 
consequence of the great number of high personages 
connected with it. He was, besides, naturally indulgent 
to all exactions which pressed upon foreign nations. 
In this important affair, our influence predominated over 
the Russian. The extraordinary commission did not 
give in its report after its forty-sixth sitting, till the 23d 
of February, 1803, at the very epoch when the Swiss 
mediation terminated. The activity of intrigues, and 
the disgraceful proceedings which occurred during this 
long interval, especially in proportion as it approached 
its term, may be conceived from this : When complaints 
arrived, that great rogueries had been detected, every 
thing Avas imputed to the management of the public 
offices, where there was nothing but subordinate agents, 
while the whole culpability really was derived from 
certain cabinets and certain boudoirs where indemnities 
and principalities were put up to sale. Although I was 
no longer in office, it was always to me that complaints 
and disclosures, with regard to denials of justice, tiere 
transmitted; it was obstinately concluded that I still 
retained my influence, and the ear of the master. 

But it was not on the side of Germany, already fallen 



182 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

into obvious decay, that the tempest, which was about 
to bring back upon us the scourges of war and revolu- 
tions, matured its elements ; it was beyond the straits 
of Calais. What I had foreseen was realized by a 
series of irresistible causes. The enthusiasm which the 
peace of Amiens had excited in England was not of long 
duration. The English cabinet, on its guard, and placing 
little reliance on the sincerity of the first consul, delayed, 
under certain pretexts, to give up its possession of the 
Cape of Good Hope, Malta, and Alexandria in Egypt. 
But this only referred to political relations; Bonaparte 
was in that respect less assiduous than with reference 
to the maintenance of his personal authority, which, in t 
the English papers, continued to be attacked with a 
virulence to which he could not become accustomed. 
His police was then so feeble, that it was soon seen to 
struggle without dignity, and without success, against 
the press and the intrigues of the English. To every 
memorial presented against the invectives of the Lon- 
don Journalists, the ministers of Great Britain replied, 
that it was one consequence of the liberty of the press ; 
that they were themselves exposed to it ; and that there 
was no recourse against such an abuse, but the law. 
Blinded by his anger, and ill-advised, the first consul fell 
into the snare ; he committed himself with the pam- 
phleteer Peltier ;* who was only sentenced to a fine, in 
order to triumph with more effect over his adversary. 
A rich subscription, instantly set on foot by the most 
influential classes in England, put him in a condition to 
carry on a paper war against Bonaparte, before which 
the Moniteur and the Argus turned pale. 

Thence the resentment which Bonaparte felt against 
England. " Every wind which blows," said he, " from 
that direction, brings nothing but contempt and hatred 
against my person." From that time he concluded that 
thqf^ peace could not benefit him ; that it would not 

* Author of the " Ambigu," and a multitude of very witty pam- 
phlets against Bonaparte and his family. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 183 

leave him sufficient facility to aggrandize his dominion 
externally, and would impede the extension of his inter- 
nal power ; that, moreover, our daily relations with 
England modified our political ideas and revived our 
thoughts of liberty. From that moment he resolved 
to deprive us of all connexion with a free people. The 
grossest invectives against the government and institu- 
tions of England soiled our public journals, which assum- 
ed a surly and wrathful character. Possessing neither a 
superior police, nor public spirit, the first consul had 
recourse to the artifices of his minister of foreign affairs, 
in order to give a false colour to French opinion. Heavy 
clouds now obscured the peace, which had become pro- 
blematical ; but to which Bonaparte still clung involun- 
tarily through a kind of interior presentiment of fatal 
catastrophes. 

Beyond la Manche, every thing was becoming hostile, 
and the complaints against the first consul were explicitly 
expressed. He was reproached with the incorporation 
of Piedmont, and the Isle of Elba ; he was accused of 
having disposed of Tuscany and kept Parma ; of having 
imposed new laws on the Ligurian and Helvetian repub- 
lics ; of having united in his own person the government 
of the Italian republic ; of treating Holland like a French 
province ; of collecting considerable forces on the shores 
of Brittany, under pretext of a new expedition to Saint 
Domingo ; of having stationed another corps, the im- 
portance of which was quite out of proportion with its 
avowed object, that of taking possession of Louisiana, 
at the mouth of the Meuse ; in conclusion, of having 
sent officers of artillery and engineers in the guise of 
commercial agents, to explore the harbours and ship- 
roads of Great Britain, in order, in this manner, to pre- 
pare, in the midst of peace, for a clandestine invasion of 
the shores of England. 

The only complaint which the first consul could ad- 
duce against the English, was comprised in their refusal 
to give up Malta. But they replied, that political 
changes, effected since the treaty of Amiens, rendered 



184 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

that restitution impossible without some preHmioary 
arrangements. 

It is certain that sufficient circumspection was not 
employed in the political operations directed against 
England. If Bonaparte had desired the maintenance 
of peace, he would sedulously have avoided giving um- 
brage and inquietude to that power, on the score of its 
Indian possessions, and would have abstained from ap- 
plauding the braggadocio of the mission of Sebastian! 
into Syria and Turkey. His imprudent interview with 
Lord Whitworth accelerated the rupture. I foresaw 
from that time, that he would quickly pass from a cer- 
tain degree of moderation as chief of the government, 
to acts of exaggeration, indignation, and even rage. 

Such was his decree of the 22d of May, 1803, order- 
ing the arrest of all Englishmen who were on business, 
or on their travels in France. There had never been, 
till then, an example of such a violence against the rights 
of nations. How could M. de Talleyrand lend himself 
to become the principal instrument of so outrageous an 
act — he who had always given express assurance to 
the English residing in Paris, that they would, after the 
departure of their ambassador, enjoy the protection of 
the government, to as great an extent as during his 
stay ? If he had had the courage to resign, what would 
have become of Napoleon without a superior police, 
and without a minister capable of counterpoising the 
politics of Europe. How^ many other complaints should 
we then have had to express, how many other accusa- 
tions to exhibit on the subject of more monstrous co- 
operations ! I thought myself lucky at that time, to be 
no longer in office. Who can answer for himself? 
I also might have yielded, like another ;, but at all 
events I should have recorded my resistance, and made 
a protest of my disapprobation. 

Without more delay, Bonaparte took possession of 
the electorate of Hanover, and ordered the blockade 
of the Elbe and Weser. All his thoughts were direct- 
ed towards the execution of his great project for invad- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 185 

ing the enemy's shores. The cliffs of Ostend, of Dun- 
kirk, and Boulogne, were covered with camps ; the 
squadrons at Toulon, Rochfort, and Brest, were fitted 
out; our docks were crowded with pinnaces, praams, 
sloops, and gun-boats. England, on her side, took her 
measures of defence ; the force of her navy was raised 
to four hundred and sixty-nine ships of war, and a flo-* 
tilla of eight hundred vessels guarded her coasts ; all her 
national population rushed to arms; camps were erect- 
ed on the heights of Dover, and in the counties of Sus- 
sex and Kent ; the two armies were only separated by 
the channel, and the enemy's flotilla came and insulted 
ours, under the protection of a coast liped with cannon^ 
In this manner formidable preparations on both sides 
indicated the revival of the maritime war, which was a 
prelude more or less proximate of an universal war. A 
more serious political motive had accelerated the rup- 
ture on the part of England. The cabinet of London 
had early noticed that Bonaparte was preparing, in 
the silence of his closet, all the necessary steps for get- 
ting himself declared emperor, and for reviving the em-^ 
pire of Charlemagne. Ever since my retreat from 
public affairs, the first consul was persuaded that the 
opposition which he Avould experience to his coronation 
would be very feeble, republican ideas having fallen 
into discredit. All the reports that came from Paris 
agreed on this point, that he would soon encircle his 
head with the diadem of kings. That which particu- 
larly awakened the notice of the cabinet of London, 
was the proposal made to the house of Bourbon, to 
transfer to the first-consul their rights to the throne of 
France. Not daring to make the proposal directly him- 
self, he availed himself for the purpose of this nego- 
tiation of the Prussian cabinet, Avhich he moulded as he 
pleased. The minister Haugwitz employed M. de 
Meyer, president of the regency of Warsaw, who offer- 
ed to Louis XVIII., indemnities, and a magnificent es- 
tablishment in Italy. But nobly inspired, the king made 
this well-known admirable reply, " I know not what 
24- 



186 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

may be the designs of Providence respecting my family 
and myself! but I know the obligations which he has 
imposed upon me by the rank to which he has pleased 
to call me. As a christian, I will fulfil these obligations 
to my last breath ; as a son of St. Louis, I shall, from 
his exam|)le, know how to respect myself, even in 
chains ; as a successor of Francis I., I, at least, desire 
the ability to say with him, ' We have lost every thing 
but our honour.'" All the French princes concupred 
with this noble declaration. I have expatiated on this 
fact, because it serves to explain what I have to say on 
the subject of the conspiracy of Georges and Moreau, 
and of the murder of the Duke d'Enghien. 

The ill success of the overture to the princes having 
retarded the development of Bonaparte's plan, the rest 
of the year, 1803, passed in expectation. An air was 
assumed of being exclusively occupied with prepara- 
tions for invasion. But a double danger appeared im- 
minent at London ; and there the conspiracy of Georges 
Cadoudal was devised, upon the sole foundation of dis- 
content in Moreau, who was known to be in opposition 
to Bonaparte. There was not the least idea of harmo- 
nizing and uniting the two extreme parties ; the armed 
royalists on the one hand, and the independent patriots 
on the other. To cement such an alliance was beyond 
the power of the agents who interfered in it. Intrig- 
uers could only conduct it to a false result. The disco- 
very of a solitary Jaranch of the conspiracy rendered the 
whole abortive. When Real had received the first dis- 
closures of Querelle, who was sentenced to death, and 
had given an account of them, the first-consul, in the 
first instance, refused to give them credit. I was con- 
sulted, and I perceived traces of a plot which it was ne- 
cessary to penetrate and follow. I could, from that mo- 
ment, have caused the re-establishment of the police 
administration, and resumed the reins of it myself, but I 
took care not to do so, and eluded it ; I jet, awhile, 
saw nothing clear in the horizon. I admitted, with fa- 
cility, that the gros-juge was incapable of detecting and 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 187 

transacting an affair of so much moment, but I cried up 
Desmarets, chief of the secret division, and Real, coun- 
sellor of state, as two excellent blood-hounds, and well- 
trained explorers; I said, that Real having had the 
good fortune to make the discovery, it was proper to 
give him the confidential employment of accomplishing 
his work. He was put at the head of an extraordinary 
commission, with carte blanche, and he was permitted to 
call in the aid of the military power — Murat having 
been appointed governor of Paris. Proceeding from 
discovery to discover}^, Pichegru was next arrested ; 
and afterwards Moreau and Georges. Bonaparte re- 
cognised in the nature of this conspiracy, and especially 
in the implication of Moreau, a stroke of fortune, which 
secured to him possession of the empire ; he thought 
that it would be sufficient to characterize Moreau as a 
conspirator, in order to denationalize him. This mis- 
take, and the assassination of the Duke d'Enghien, very 
nearly caused his ruin. 

I was one of the first to obtain a knowledge of the 
mission of Caulaincourt and Ordener to the banks of 
the Rhinei ; but when I was informed that the tele- 
graph had just announced the arrest of the prince, and 
that the order to transfer him from Strasbourg to Paris 
was given, I foresaw the catastrophe, and I trembled 
for the life of the noble victim. I hurried to Malmaison, 
where thb first consul then was ; it was the 29th Ven- 
tose, (SlOth March, lii04.) I arrived there at nine 
o'clock in the morning, and I found him in a state of agi- 
tation, walking by himself in the park. I entreated 
permission to say a word to him about the great event 
of the day. " I see," said he, " what brings you ; I am 
about this day to strike a great and necessary blow." 
I represented to him that France and Europe would be 
roused against him, if he did not supply undeniable proof 
that the duke had conspired against his person at Et- 
teinheim. " What necessity is there for proof?" he 
exclaimed ; " Is he not a Bourbon, and the most dange- 
rous of all of them." I persisted in offering arguments 



188 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of policy calculated to silence the reasons of state. But 
all in vain; he concluded by impatiently telling me, 
" Have not you and your friends told me a thousand 
times that I should conclude by becoming the General 
Monk of France, and by restoring the Bourbons ? Very 
well ! there will no longer be any way of retreating. 
What stronger guarantee can I give to the revolution, 
which you have cemented by the blood of a king ? It 
is, besides, indispensable to bring things to a conclusion; 
I am surrounded by plots ; I must imprint terror or 
perish." Jn saying these last words, which left nothing 
more to hope, he had approached the castle ; I saw M. 
de Talleyrand arrive, and a moment after the two con- 
suls, Cambaceres and Lebrun. I regained my carriage, 
and re-entered my own house in a state of consterna- 
tion. 

The next day I learned, that after my departure a 
council had been held, and that Savary had proceeded 
at night to the execution of the unfortunate victim ; 
atrocious circumstances were quoted. Savary had re- 
venged himself, it was reported, of having missed his 
prey in Normandy where he had flattered himself with 
having ensnared, by means of the net-work of the con- 
spiracy of Georges, the Duke de Berri and the Count 
d'Artois, whom he would have more willingly sacrificed 
than the duke d'Enghjen.* Real assured me that he 
was so little prepared for the nocturnal execution, that 
he had departed in the morning to go to the prince at Vin^- 
cennes, expecting to conduct him to Malmaison, and con- 
ceiving that the first consul would finish the affair in a 
magnanimous manner. But a coup d'etat appeared in- 
dispensable to impress Europe with terror, and eradi- 
cate all the germs of conspiracy against his person. 

* Without seekinn^ to exonerate M. the Duke de Rovigo, who has 
so inefficiently justified himself from participation in the murder of 
the Duke d'Enghien, we will just observe that Fouche labours here 
under a little suspicion of partiality ; he did not like M. de Rovigo, 
who was invested subsequently with bis post as minister of police. — 
Note of the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 189 

Indignation, which 1 had foreseen, broke out in the 
most sanguinary manner. I was not the person who 
hesitated to express himself with the least restraint re- 
specting this violence against the rights of nations and 
humanity. " It is more than a crime," I said, " it is a 
political fault ;" words which I record because they 
have been repeated and attributed to others. 

The trial of Moreau created a momentary diversion, 
but by giving birth to a danger more real in conse- 
quence of public excitement and indignation. Moreau 
appeared to the eyes of all as a victim to the jealousy 
and ambition of Bonaparte. The general tendency of 
the public mind gave reason for fearing that his con- 
demnation would induce an insurrection and defection 
of the army. His cause became that of the "greater 
part of the generals. Lecourbe, Dessoles, Macdonald, 
Massena, and several others, spoke out with a menac- 
ing fidelity and energy. Moncey declared that he 
could not even answer for the gendarmerie. A great 
crisis was at hand, and Bonaparte remained shut up in 
the castle of St. Cloud, as if it were a fortress. I pre- 
sented myself to him, two hours after having addressed 
him in writing, in order to point out the abyss which 
yawned at his feet. He affected a firmness Avhich at 
the bottom of his heart he did not possess. 

" I am not of opinion," said I to him, " that Moreau 
should be sacrificed, and I do not approve of violent 
measures in this case at all ; it is necessary to tempo- 
rize, for violence has too great an affinity to weakness, 
and an act of clemency on your part will produce a 
stronger effect than scaffolds." 

Having lent an attentive ear to my exposition of the 
danger of his situation, he promised me to pardon Mo- 
reau, by commuting the pain of death into a simple 
exile. Was he sincere ? I knew that Moreau was 
urged to abstract himself from justice, by making an 
appeal to the soldiers, whose dispositions in his favour 
were exaggerated. But better counsels, and his own 
instinct prevailed so as to retain him within just bounds 



190 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

All the efforts of Bonaparte, and of his partisans to get 
Moreau condemned to death, failed. The issue of the 
trial having disconcerted the first consul, he caused me 
to be sent for to St. Cloud, and there I was instructed 
to take upon myself the direct management of this de- 
licate affair, and bring about a peaceable issue. I, in 
the first instance, saw the wife of Moreau, and exerted 
myself to appease profound and vivid feelings of re- 
sentment. I afterwards saw^ Moreau, and it was easy 
for me to get him to consent to his ostracism, by exhi- 
biting to him the perspective of danger, from a deten^ 
tion of two years, which would place him, in a manner, 
in the power of his enemy. To say the truth, there 
was as much danger for one as the other ; Moreau 
might be assassinated or liberated. He followed my 
advice, and took the road to Cadiz, in order to pass 
from thence into the United States. The next day I 
was received and thanked at Saint Cloud, in terms 
which gave me reason to presage the approaching re- 
turn of very brilliant favour. 1 had also given to Bo- 
naparte advice to make himself master of the crisis, 
and cause himself to be proclaimed Emperor, in order 
to terminate all our uncertainties, by the foundation of 
a new dynasty. I knew that his resolution was taken. 
Would it not have been absurd on the part of the men 
of the revolution, to compromise every thing, in order 
to defend our principles, while we had nothing further 
to do but enjoy the reality ? Bonaparte was then the 
only man in a position to maintain us in the possession 
of our property, our distinctions, and our employments. 
He profited of all his advantages, and, even before the 
dSnouement of the aifair of Moreau, and a suborned tri- 
bune made a motion to confer the title of Emperor, and 
the imperial hereditary power, upon Napoleon Bona- 
parte, and to instil into the organization of the consti- 
tuted authorities the modifications which the establish- 
ment of the empire might exact, with the proviso of 
preserving in their integrity, the equality, the liberty, 
and the rights of the people. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 191 

The members of the legislative body assembled, with 
M. de Fontanes at their head, in order to give in their 
adhesion to the vote of the Tribunat, On the 16th of 
May, three orators of the council of state having car- 
ried a project of a senatus-consiiltum to the senate, the 
report was sent to a commission, and adopted on the 
Game day. It was thus Napoleon himself, who in vir- 
tue of the initiative conferred upon him, proposed to 
the senate his promotion to the imperial dignity. The 
senate, of which I composed a part, went in a body to 
Saint Cloud, and the senatus-consuUum was proclaimed 
at the very moment, by Napoleon in person. He 
pledged himself, during the two years which would 
follow his accession, to take an oath in the presence of 
the great officers of the empire, and his ministers,^ to 
respect, and cause to be respected, the equality of our 
rights, political and civil liberty, the irrevocability of 
the national property ; not to raise any impost, nor es- 
tablish any tax, except by virtue of the law. — Whose 
fault was it that the empire, from its establishment, 
was not a real constitutional monarchy ? I do not pre- 
tend to set myself against the public body, of which I 
composed a part at that period; but I found at that 
time very few materials for a national opposition. 

The title of Emperor and the Imperial power was 
hereditary in the family of Bonaparte from male to 
male, and by order of primogeniture. Having no issue 
male. Napoleon might adopt the children or grand-chil- 
dren of his brothers ; and in that case, his adopted sons 
were to enter into the line of direct descent. 

This arrangement had an object, which could not 
escape the attention of whomsoever was acquainted 
with the domestic situation of Napoleon. It was sin- 
gular ; and it would require the pen of a Suetonius to 
describe it. I will not make the attempt ; but it is 
necessary to touch upon it for the sake of the truth and 
utility of history. 

For a long time Napoleon was convinced, notwith- 
standing the artifices of Josephine, that she would never 



192 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

giye him any progeny. This situation was calculated 
sooner or later to tire the patience of the founder of a 
great empire, in all the vigour of his age. Josephine, 
therefore, found herself between two rocks ; infidelity 
and divorce. Her anxieties and alarms had increased 
since his accession to the consulship for life, which she 
knew was only a stepping stone to the empire. In the 
interim, mortified by her sterility, she conceived a plan 
for substituting her daughter Hortense in the affection 
of her husband, who already, in a sensual point of view, 
was escaping from her, and who, in the hope of seeing 
himself born again in a son, might break the knot which 
united him to her ; it would not have been without 
pain. On one side, habit ; on the other, the amiable 
temper of Josephine, and a kind of superstition, seem- 
ed to secure to her forever the attachment, or at least 
the attentions, of Napoleon ; but great subject for in- 
quietude and anxiety did not the less exist. The pre- 
servative naturally presented itself to the mind of Jo- 
sephine ; she was even little impeded in the execution 
of her plan. 

Hortense, when young, had felt a great dislike to 
the husband of her mother ; she indeed detested him : 
but by degrees, time, age, and the halo of glory which 
surrounded Napoleon, and his attentions to Josephine, 
induced Hortense to pass from the extreme of antipa- 
thy to adoration. Without being handsome, she was 
witty, sparkling, replete with graces and talents. She 
pleased ; and the liking became so animated on both 
sides, that it was sufficient for Josephine to affect the 
air of being maternally pleased, and afterwards to shut 
her eyes upon the matter, in order to secure her do- 
mestic triumph. The mother and daughter reigned at 
the same time in the heart of this haughty man. When, 
according to the mother's views, the tree began to bear 
fruit, it was necessary to think of masking, by a sudden 
marriage, an intrigue which already began to reveal it- 
self to the eyes of the courtiers. Hortense would have 
willingly given her hand toDuroc ; but Napoleon* look- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. J 93 

ing to the future, and calculating from that time the 
possibility of an adoption, wished to concentrate in his 
own family, by a double incest, the intrigue to which he 
was about to be indebted for all the charms of paterni- 
ty. Thence the union of his brother Louis and Hor- 
tense — a melancholy union, and which ended in rending 
the veil of deception. 

Meantime the wishes of all parties, with the excep- 
tion of those of the new husband, were, at first, auspi- 
ciously fulfilled. Hortense gave birth to a son, who 
look the name of Napoleon, and on whom Napoleon 
lavished marks of tenderness, of which he was not be- 
lieved susceptible. This child came forward in the 
most charming manner; and by its features alone 
doubly interested Napoleon at the period of his acces- 
sion to the empire. No doubt he designed him from 
that time in his heart as his adopted son. 

His elevation to the imperial dignity met, in all quar- 
ters, with the most chilling reception ; there were pub- 
lic banquets without animation and without gaiety. Na- 
poleon had not waited for the formality of the sanction 
of the people to hear hiaiself saluted with the name 
of Emperor, and to receive the oaths of the senate, 
which was now become nothing but the passive instru- 
ment of his will. It was in the army alone that he 
wished to strike deeply the roots of his government; 
and, accordingly, he hastened to confer the dignity of 
marshal of the empire, either on those of his generals, 
who were most devoted to him, or on those who had 
been opposed to him, but whom it would have been im- 
politic to exclude. By the side of the names of Ber- 
their, Murat, Lannes, Bessieres, Davoust, Soult, ^Lefe- 
vre, 6a whom he could most calculate, were seen the 
names of Jourdan, Massena, Bernadotte, Ney, Brune, 
and Augereau, more republican than monarchical. As 
to Perignon, Serrurier, Kellermann, and Mortier, they 
were only there in order to make weight, and to com- 
plete the eighteen coluinns of the empire, whose se- 
lection was ratified by public opinion. 
25 



194 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

There was more difficulty in getting up a court, in 
re-establishing levees and evening parties, in special pre- 
sentations ; and to create an imperial household of per- 
sons elevated by the revolution, and of others selected 
from the old families whom it had despoiled. It was 
quite right to employ nobles and emigrants ; the affairs 
of the household were naturally devolved on them. A 
little ridicule at first attached itself to these transmi- 
grations, but the world soon got familiarized with the 
change. 

It was very obvious, however, that every thing was 
constrained and forced, and that there was more skill 
employed in organizing the military government. The 
civil government Avas as yet no more than a sketch. 
The elevation of Cambaceres and Lebrun, the first in 
the character of arch-chancellor, the second in that of 
arch-treasurer, added nothing to the counterpoise of 
the public councils. The institution of a council of 
state, as an integral part, and superior authority in the 
constitution, had the appearance of bemg a means of 
centralization, rather than the elaboration of discussions 
and enlightenment. — Among the ministers, M. de Talley- 
rand alone exhibited himself in a condition to exercise 
the influence of perspicuity; but that was only with 
regard to foreign relations. With regard to the inte- 
rior, an important spring was deficient, that of the ge- 
neral police, which might have rallied the past round 
the present, and guaranteed the security of the empire. 
Napoleon himself perceived the void, and, by an impe- 
rial decree of the 10th July, re-established me at the 
head of the police ; at the same time investing me with 
stronger functions than those which 1 had possessed, 
before the absurd fusion of the police with the depart- 
ment of justice. 

I here begin to perceive, that I must limit the range 
of my excursion and condense my narrative ; for there 
still remains for me the task of expatiating over a lapse 
of six years, fertile in memorable events. This frame- 
work is immense; and that is an additional reason to 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. IQ^) 

set aside all that is unworthy of history, in order not to 
sketch or fill up nothing but what is worthy of the grav- 
ing tool; but nothing essential shall be omitted. 

Two years before the decree of my re-appointment, 
I had been sent for to St. Cloud, in order to have a 
special conference in Napoleon's cabinet. On that occa- 
sion, I obtained, if I may so express myself, my oAvn 
conditions, in causing the basis which completed the 
new organization of my ministry to be invested with the 
imperial sanction. 

Real had aspired to the post as a recompense for his 
zeal in tracing the conspiracy of Georges; but, though 
a skilful explorer, and a good chef-de-division, he was 
neither of energy nor calibre sufficient to give motion to 
such a machine. But, if he did not get the post, he 
was amply recompensed in cash down, to the charms of 
which he was not insensible ; and he was, besides, one 
of the four counsellors of state who were united with 
me in the administrative department, in order to cor^ 
respond with the departmental prefects. The three 
other counsellors were Pelet de la Lozere, a creature of 
Cambaceres ; Miot, a creature of Joseph Bonaparte ; 
and Dubois, prefect of police. These four counsellors 
assembled once a week in my closet, to give me an ac- 
count of all the affairs appertaining to their functions, and 
take my opinion thereon. I, by that means, disembar- 
rassed myself of a multitude of tiresome details, reserv- 
ing to myself the duty of alone regulating the superior 
police ; the secret division of which had remained un- 
der the direction of Desmarets, an individual of a sup- 
ple and crafty character, but of narrow views. It waS 
to the central focus of my cabinet that all the great af- 
fairs of state, of which 1 grasped the strings, finally con- 
verged. It will not be doubted, that I had salaried 
spies in all ranks and all orders; I had them of both 
sexes, hired at the rate of a thousand or two thousand 
francs per month, according to their importance and 
their services. I received their reports directly in 
writing, having a conventional mark. Every three 



196 BIEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

months, I communicated my list to the emperor, in 
order that there might be no double employment ; and 
also in order that the nature of the service, occasionally 
permanent, often temporary, might be rewarded either 
by places or remunerations. As to the department of 
foreign police, it had two essential objects, namely, to 
watch friendly powers, and counteract, hostile govern- 
ments. In both cases, it was composed of individuals 
purchased or pensioned, and commissioned to reside 
near each government, or in each principal town, inde- 
pendent of numerous secret agents sent into all coun- 
tries, either by the minister of foreign affairs, or by the 
emperor himself. 

I also had my foreign spies. It was in my depart- 
ment, also, that the foreign gazettes prohibited to the 
perusal of the French people, and transcripts of which 
were sent to me, were treasured up. By that means, I 
held in my hands the most important strings of foreign 
politics ; and I discharged, in conjunction with the chief 
of the government, a task capable of controlling or ba- 
lancing that of the minister charged with the function 
of foreign relations. 

I was thus far from limiting my duties to espionnage. 
All the state prisons were under my control, as well as 
the gendarmerie. The delivery and the visa of pass-? 
ports belonged to me. To me was assigned the duty 
of overlooking amnestied individuals and foreigners. I 
established general commissariats in the principal towns 
of the kingdom, which extended the net-work of the 
police over the whole of France, and especially our 
ffontiers. 

My police acquired so high a reno\yn, that the world 
went so far as to pretend that 1 had, among my secret 
agents, three nobles of the ancien regime^ distinguished 
by princely titles,* and who daily communicated to ine 
the result of their observations. 

* The Prince de L-— r-r- , tbe Prince de C- , and the 

Prince de M — : . 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 197 

I confess that such an establishment was expensive ; 
it swallowed up several millions, the funds of which 
were secretly provided from taxes laid upon gambling 
and prostitution, and from the granting of passports. 
Notwithstanding all that has been said against gambling, 
reflecting and decided minds must allow, that in the ac^ 
tual state of society, the legal converting of vice into 
profit is a necessary evil. A proof that all the odium 
attendant upon the measure is not to be attributed ex- 
clusively to the republican governments, is, that at the 
present day, gambling taxes form part of the budget of 
the old government now re-established. Since it was 
an unavoidable evil, it became necessary to employ se- 
vere regulations, that the disorder might at least be 
under control. Under the empire, the establishment of 
which cost nearly four hundred millions of francs, since 
there were thirty families to be provided with dignities 
and honours, it became necessary to organize the 
gambling-houses upon a much larger scale, for the pro- 
duce of them was not solely destined to reward my 
moving phalanxes of spies. I nominated as superinten- 
dent-general of the gambling-houses in France, Perrein 
the elder, who already farmed them, and who, after 
the coronation, extended his privilege over all the chief 
towns of the empire, upon condition of paying fourteen 
millions yearly, independent of three thousand francs 
dally to the minister of the police. All, however, did 
not remain in his hands. 

All these elements of an immense power did pot reach 
my cabinet, there to expire without utility. As 1 was 
informed of all, it became my duty to centre in myself 
the public complaints, in order to make known to the 
head of the government the uneasiness and misfortunes 
of the state. 

I will not therefore dissemble, that it was in my pow- 
er to act upon the fear or terror which either more or 
less constantly agitated the possessor of unlimited pow- 
er. The great searcher into the state, I could com- 
plain, censure, and condemn, for the whole of France. 



198 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

In this point of view, what evils have I not prevented ? 
If I found myself unable to reduce, as was my wish, the 
general police to a mere scarecrow, or rather to a be- 
nevolent institution, I have at least the satisfaction of 
being able to assert, that I have done more good than 
ill ; that is to say, that I have avoided more evil than 
it was permitted me to do, having almost always to 
struggle with the prejudices, the passions, and the fu- 
rious transports of the chief of the state. 

In my second ministry, I succeeded much more by the 
force of informations and of apprehension, than by re- 
straint and the employment of coercive measures. I 
revived the ancient police maxim, namely, that three 
persons could not meet and speak indiscreetly upon 
public affairs, without its coming the next day to the 
ears of the minister of police. Certain it is, that I had 
the address to make it universally believed that where- 
ever four persons assembled, there, in my pay, were 
eyes to see and ears to hear. Such a belief, no doubt, 
tended to general corruption and debasement; but, on 
the other hand, what evils, what wretchedness, what 
tears has it prevented ? Such then was this vast and 
terrific machine called the general police of the empire. 
It may easily be conceived, that without neglecting the 
details, I was chiefly engaged upon its ensemble, and its 
results. 

The empire had just been hastily established under 
such fearful auspices, and the public spirit was so ill- 
disposed and hostile, that I considered it my duty to 
advise the emperor to make a diversion, to travel, for 
the purpose of removing these malevolent and slande- 
rous dispositions against his person, his family, and his 
new court, more than ever exposed to the malicious 
taunts of the Parisians. 

He acquiesced, and went first to Boulogne, where he 
caused himself, so to speak, to be raised on the shield 
by the troops encamped in the neighbourhood. From 
Boulogne he proceeded to Aix LaChapelle, where he 
received the ambassadors from several powers, who 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 199 

all, with the exception of England, Russia, and Sweden, 
hastened to acknowledge him. 

Then passing rapidly through the united provinces, 
and arriving at Mayence, he was visited there by a great 
number of the German princes ; he returned to Saint 
Cloud about the end of autumn. The political state of 
Europe required more management than harshness. 
One act of passion and rage on the part of the emperor 
had nearly ruined all. He caused Sir George Rum- 
boldt, the English minister, to be arrested at Hamburgh 
by a detachment of soldiers ; his papers were likewise 
seized, and himself conducted to Paris, and committed 
to the Temple. This fresh violation of the rights of 
nations roused the whole of Europe. Both M. de Tal- 
leyrand and myself trembled lest the fate of the Duke 
d'Enghien should be in reserve for Sir George ; and we 
did all in our power to rescue him from a summary 
sentence; The papers of Sir George had fallen into 
my hands, and I carefully palliated all that might have 
been the subject of a serious charge. The Interference 
of Prussia, whom we secretly urged, completed what 
we had so happily begun. Sir George Rumboldt was 
liberated upon the condition of never again setting foot 
in Hamburgh, and of henceforth keeping himself at a 
distance of fifty leagues from the French territory; 
conditions proposed by myself. 

I could do nothing against sudden and unexpected re- 
solves, and I had then no means left me of eluding or 
opposing those dark acts, which, trampling upon the 
forms of justice, were exercised by a direct order ema- 
nating from the cabinet, and committed to subalterns 
over whom I had no official control. I was myself 
more or less exposed to the malevolence of the prefect 
of police. At the time of the first affair of General 
Mallet, he accused me to the emperor of being desirous 
of secretly protecting Mallet, of having given Massen^ 
a hint of accusations which were hanging over him, and 
of having suppressed papers which implicated him. 
Plots were talked of, which had their ramifications in 



200 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the army and in the high police. I satisfied the empe- 
ror that the whole amounted to having put Massena 
upon his guard against the insinuations of certain pam- 
phlets and malicious intriguers. 

Many important privy councils were held at Saint 
Cloud, their two principal objects being to obtain the 
sanction of the pope's presence at the emperor's coro- 
nation, and to detach Russia from an alliance with 
England, which would have formed the nucleus of a 
third coalition, the germs of which we perceived in the 
political horizon. 

The pope Avas the first to swallow the bait, so impe- 
rious appeared to him the interests of religion, and so 
striking in his eyes was the parallel of the present times 
with those of Leon and Etienne, of Pepin and Charle-. 
magne. We knew that the king of Sweden, after the 
murder of the Duke d'Enghien, was traversing German 
ny to raise up enemies against us; snares were laid for 
him at every step, and at Munich he narrowly escaped 
being carried off. Russia appeared to me to present 
greater difficulties ; Russia had vainly offered her me- 
diation for the maintenance of peace between France 
and Great Britain. The murder of the Duke d'Eng- 
hien had changed its coolness into extreme indignation.! 
On the 7th of May, the Russian minister had despatch** 
ed a note to the diet of Ratisbon, by which the empire 
was requested to demand such reparations as the viola- 
tion of its territory demanded. The cabinet of St. Pe- 
tersburgh had just satisfied itself of the falsehood of the 
assertions, according to which the Emperor of Germany; 
and the King of Prussia had fully authorized the Frenchji 
government to cause to be seized, in Germany, the r&*i 
bels who had deprived themselves of the protection ofij 
the law of nations. In short, the czar shewed himself 
ill disposed towards us, and inclined for war, which 
would have overthrown all the plans which the Empe- 
ror meditated against Great Britain. To regain Rus- 
sia, it was proposed to employ the intrigues of courtiers 
and courtesans ; this resource appeared to me perfectly 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 201 

ridiculous, and I affirmed in the council, that its success 
was impossible. "What!" replied the emperor, " is it 
a veteran of the revolution who borrows so pusillani- 
mous an expression! what, sir, is it for you to advance 
that anything is impossible! you who, during fifteen 
years, have seen brought to pass events which were 
with justice thought to be impossible? The man who 
has seen Louis XVI. place his neck under the guillotine ; 
who has seen the iVrchduchess of Austria, queen of 
France, mend her own stockings and shoes, while in 
daily expectation of mounting the scaffold ; he, in short, 
who sees himself a minister when I am emperor of the 
French ; such a man should never permit the word 
impossible to escape his lips." I saw clearly that I ow- 
ed this severe raillery to my disapprobation of the mur-^ 
der of the Duke d'Enghien, of which they did not fail 
to inform the emperor, and I replied, without being dis- 
concerted, " 1 indeed ought to have recollected that 
your majesty has taught us the word impossible is not 
French." 

This he immediately proved to us in a most striking 
manner, by forcing the sovereign pontiff from his papal 
palace, during a winter of extreme severity, to anoint 
his head with the sacred unction. Pius VII. arrived at 
Fontainbleau on the •25th of November; and eight 
days after, on the eve of the coronation, the senate 
came to present the emperor with three miUion five 
hundred thousand votes in favour of his elevation to the 
imperial power. In his speech, the vice-president, 
FranQois de Neufcheteau, still spoke of the republic, 
which appeared pure derision. At the ceremony of 
the coronation, (Napoleon himself placed the crown 
upon his head) the acclamations, at first extremely few, 
were afterwards reinforced by the multitude of men in 
office (^Jhnctionnaires) who were summoned from all 
parts of France to be present at the coronation. 

But upon returning to his palace. Napoleon found 
cold and silent spectators, as when he visited the me- 
tropolis. Both in my reports and my private confo- 
26 



^02 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

rences, I pointed out to him how much he still stood 
in need of friends in the capital, and how essential it 
was to burj in oblivion the actions imputed to him. 

We soon perceived he meditated a great diversion. 
When he mentioned in council his idea of going" to be 
crowned king of Italy, we all told him he would pro- 
voke a new continental war. " I must have battles and 
triumphs," replied he. And yet he did not relax his 
preparations for invasion. One day, upon my objecting 
to him that he could not make war at the same time 
against England and against all Europe, he replied, " I 
may fail by sea, but not by land ; besides, I shall be able 
to strike the blow before the old coalition machines are 
ready. The peruke Avearers (tetes a pei'ruque) under- 
stand nothing about it, and the kings have neither 
activity nor decision of character. I do not fear old 
Europe." 

His coronation at Milan was the repetition of his co- 
ronation in France. In order to show himself to his 
new subjects, he traversed his kingdom of Italy. Upon 
seeing the magnificent city of Genoa and its picturesque 
environs, he exclaimed — " This is, indeed, worth a war." 
His conduct throughout was admirable ; he paid parti- 
cular attention to the Piedmontese, especially to their 
nobility, for whom he had a decided predilection. 

Upon his return to the coast of Boulogne, redoubling 
his preparations, he kept his army ready to cross the 
strait. But success was so dependent upon the execu- 
tion of so vast a plan, that it was scarcely possible for it 
not to be deranged, either by circumstances, or unfore- 
seen chances. To make the French fleets, composed of 
vessels of the line, assist in the disembarkation of the 
army, was no easy task. It was under the protection 
of fifty men of war, which having sailed from Brest, 
Rochfort, L'Orient, Toulon, and Cadiz, were to rendez- 
vous at Martinique, and thence make sail with all expe- 
dition for Boulogne, that the disembarkation of a hun- 
dred and forty thousand infantry, and ten thousand ca- 
valry was to be effected. The landing once accomplish- 

\ 



MfeMOIRS OP FOUCHE, 203 

ed, the taking of London appeared certain. Napoleon 
was persuaded, that, master of that capital, and the 
Enghsh army beaten and dispersed, he should be able 
to raise in London itself a popular party, which would 
overthrow the oligarchy and destroy the government. 
All our secret information showed the feasibility of 
it. But, alas ! he lost himself in his maritime plans, 
thinking that he could move our naval squadrons 
with the same precision as that with which his armies 
manoeuvred before him. 

On the other hand, neither he nor his minister of ma- 
rine, Decres, who enjoyed his utmost confidence, knew 
how to form, or where to find, a naval officer intrepid 
enough to conduct so prodigious an operation. Decres 
persuaded himself that Admiral Villeneuve, his friend, 
was adequate to the task ; and he was the cause of the 
fatal event Avhich completed the ruin of our navy. 
Nothing less was required of Villeneuve than to unite 
to his twenty vessels the squadrons of Ferrol and Vigo, 
in order to raise the blockade of Brest; there, joining 
his own fleet with that of Gantheaume, amounting to 
twenty-one vessels, making a total of, French and Spa- 
nish vessels, sixty-three, he was to sail for Boulogne, 
according to his instructions. 

When it was known that be had just re-entered 
Cadiz, instead of accomplishing his glorious mission, the 
emperor was highly exasperated at the disappointment 
for several days ; no longer master of himself, he order- 
ed the minister to have Villeneuve called before a coun- 
cil of inquiry, and nominated Rosily as his successor; he 
afterwards wished to embark the army on board the 
flotilla, in spite of the opposition of Bruix j ill-treating 
this brave admiral so grossly, as to oblige htm to place 
his hand upon his sword, — a lamentable scene, — which 
caused the disgrace of Bruix, and no longer left any 
hope of the enterprise. 

It might however be said, that Fortune, while she 
prevented Napoleon from triumphing upon an element 
which was hostile t© him, prepared still greater tri- 



204 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

uoiphs for him on the continent, by opening an im- 
mense career of glory for him, and of humiliation for 
Europe. It Avas chiefly in the dilatoriness and bkm- 
ders of the different cabinets that he found his greatest 
strength. 

No observations of the ministry, nor any efforts of my 
agents, had as yet been able to make him give up his 
fixed resolutions against England. He, however, knew, 
that since the month of January, 1804, the Austrian 
minister, Count Stadion, had endeavoured to arouse the 
demon of coalitions, in a memorial addressed to the 
cabinet of London, a copy of w^hlch had been procured. 
Napoleon also was not ignorant that Pitt had imme- 
diately instructed the English legation in Russia to in- 
form the cabinet of St. Petersburgh of it, who, since 
the affair of the German secularizations, was upon cool 
terms with France. The murder of the Duke d'Eng- 
hien, kindled the fire which had hitherto smouldered 
under the ashes. To the note of the Russian minister 
at Ratisbon, Napoleon had replied by an insulting one, 
addressed to the charge (Pafaires D'Oubril, recalling 
the tragical death of a father to the sensibility of his 
august son ; — D'Oubril was censured by his court for 
having received it. I had just been recalled into the 
ministry, when the note in answer arrived from the 
Russian government ; it required the evacuation of the 
kingdom of Naples, an indemnity to the king of Sardi- 
nia, and the evacuation of the North of Germany. 
"This," said I to the emperor, "is equivalent to a de- 
claration of war." "No," replied he, " not yet; they 
mean nothing by it; there is only that madman, the 
king of Sweden, who is really in understanding with 
England against me : besides, they can do nothing with- 
out Austria ; and you know that at Vienna I have a par- 
ty which outweighs the English one." — "But are you 
not apprehensive," said I to him, " that this party may 
slip through your fingers?" — "With God's help, and 
that of my armies," replied he, "I have no reason to 
fear any one !" — words which he afterwards took care 
to insert in the Moniteur. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 205 

Whether cabinet mystery concealed from us the 
subsequent transactions, or whether Napoleon studious- 
ly kept his ministers in the dark, it was not till the 
month of July that we were informed of the traite de 
concert signed at St. Petersburgh on the 11th of April. 
The Archduke Charles had already resigned the helm 
of affairs at Vienna, and Austria began its preparations. 
This was well known, and yet the good understanding 
between France and her appeared unshaken. M. 
de Talleyrand strove hard to convince the Count de 
Cobentzel, that the emperor's preponderance in Italy 
ought not to inspire any apprehensions. Austria first 
offered herself as a mediatrix between the courts of St. 
Petersburgh and Paris; but the emperor declined her 
interference. Informed, however, that military prepa- 
rations were in great activity at Vienna, he caused it to 
be signified to that court, on the 15th of August, that 
he considered them as forming a diversion in favour of 
Great Britain, which would oblige him to defer the ex- 
ecution of his plans against that country, and he insisted 
that Austria should reduce its troops to the peace esta- 
blishment. 

The court of Vienna, finding further dissimulation 
impracticable, published, on the J 8th, an order, which 
on the contrary, placed its troops on a war footing. 
By its note of the 13th of September, it developed a 
succession of complaints upon the inroads upon existing 
treaties, and upon the dependence of the Italian, Swiss, 
and Batavian republics, and particularly objected to the 
uniting the sovereignty of Italy and of France in the 
person of Napoleon. All these communications were 
shrouded with the veil of discreet diplomacy ; and the 
public, who had been solely occupied with the project- 
ed invasion of England, saw, with astonishment, in the 
Moniteur of the 21st of September, the announcement 
of the invasion of Bavaria by Austria, without any rup- 
ture or previous declaration of war. 

What a fortunate diversion for the French Emperor! 
it saved his maritime honour, and probably preserved 



206 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

him from a disaster which would have destroyed both 
himself and his nascent empire. The army hastened 
to abandon the Boulogne coast. It was a magnificent 
one, and felt the highest enthusiasm at quitting a state 
of irksome inaction, to march on towards the Rhine. 

The European league had for its object the uniting 
against France five, or, at least, four hundred thousand 
men; namely, two hundred and fifty thousand Austrians, 
one hundred and fifteen thousand Russians, and thirty- 
five thousand British. It was with these united forces 
that the allied cabinets flattered themselves they should 
be able to obtain the evacuation of Hanover and the 
north of Germany, the independence of Holland and 
Switzerland, the re-establishment of the king of Sardi- 
nia, and the evacuation of Italy. The real object was, 
the destruction of the new empire before it had attain- 
ed all its vigour. hb 

It must be owned, that Napoleon did not think him- 
self justified in resting his sole dependence upon his ex- 
cellent troops. He recollected the saying of Machia- 
vel : that a prudent prince will be both a fox and a lion 
at the same time.* After having well studied his new 
field of battle (for it was the first time he made war in 
Germany,) he told us we should soon see that the cam- 
paigns of Moreau were nothing in comparison with his. 
In fact, he acted admirably, in order to corrupt Mack, 
who permitted himself to be paralyzed in Ulm. All 
the emperor's spies were more easily purchased than 
may be conceived, the greater part having already been 
gained over in Italy, where they in no small degree 
contributed to the disasters of Alvenzi and Wurmser. 
Here every thing was effected upon a grander scale^^ 
and almost all the Austrian staff-officers were virtually 
gained over (enjonces.) I had remitted to Savary, who 
was intrusted with the management of the espionnage 
at the grand head-quarters, all my secret notes upon 
(Germany, and, with his hands full, he worked quickly. 

■ ff. 
'^ In his book of the Prince, Chap, xviii. — JVoic of the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 207 

and successfully, assisted by the famous Scbulmelster, a 
very Proteus in subornation, and the mysteries of es- 
pionnage. 

All the breaches being once made, to effect the pro- 
digies of Ulm, the bridge of Vienna and of Austerlitz 
was mere play to the valour of our troops, and the skill 
of our manoeuvres. Upon the approach of these grand 
battles, the Emperor Alexander ran blindly into the 
snare ; had he delayed only for a fortnight, Prussia, al- 
ready urged, would have entered the league. 

Thus Napoleon, by a single blow, destroyed the con- 
certed plans of the continental powers. But this glori- 
ous campaign was not without its reverse side of the 
medal ; I mean the disaster of Trafalgar, which, by the 
ruin of our navy, completed the security of Great Brit- 
ain. It was a few days after the capitulation of Ulm, 
and upon the Vienna road, that Napoleon received the 
despatch containing the first intelligence of this misfor- 
tune. Berthier has since related to me, that while 
seated at the same table with Napoleon, he read the 
fatal paper, but, not daring to present it to him, he 
pushed it gradually with his elbows under his eyes. 
Scarcely had Napoleon glanced through its contents, 
than he started up full of rage, exclaiming, " I cannot 
be everywhere !" His agitation was extreme, and Ber- 
thier despaired of tranquillizing him. Napoleon took 
his vengeance upon England in the plains of Austerlitz, 
keeping by this means the Russians at a distance, para- 
lyzing the Prussians, and dictating severe conditions to 
Austria. 

Occupied with war and diplomatic intrigues, it was 
scarcely possible for him, in the midst of his soldiers, 
to enter into all the details of the administration of the 
empire. The council governed in his absence; and, by 
the importance of my functions, I found myself in some 
sort, first minister; at least no person was independent 
of me. But it entered into the emperor's views to 
make it believed that even in his camp he knew all, 
»aw all, and provided for all. His ofiicial correspondents at 



208 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Paris were eager to address to him, dressed up in fine 
phrases all the trifling facts which they gleaned from 
every refuse of my bulletins of police. Napoleon was 
above all desirous that people might be simple enough 
to believe that the interior of the country enjoyed a 
mild government and a liberality which gained every 
heart. It was for this reason that during the same 
campaign, he affected to rebuke me, by means of the 
JWoniteur and his bulletins, for having refused Collin 
d'Harleville permission to print one of his pamphlets. 
" Where should we be," cried he, hypocritically, " if 
the permission of a censor were necessary in France for 
making our sentiments known in print?" I, who knew 
him, only saw in this peevishness an indirect hint for 
me to hasten my organization of the censorship, and my 
appointment of censors. A still more serious expres- 
sion of ill humour took place upon his return to Paris on 
the 26th of January, after the peace of Presbourg. It 
first showed itself at the Tuileries in a burst of displea- 
sure which fell upon several functionaries, and especially 
upon the venerable Barbe-Marbois ; the cause was some 
difficulty in the payments of the bank at the commence- 
ment of hostilities. This embarrassment he had him- 
self caused by carrying off from the vaults of 4he bank 
above fifty millions. Placed upon the backs of King 
Philip's mules, these millions had powerfully contribu- 
ted to the prodigious success of this unexpected cam- 
paign. But are Ave not still too near these events for 
us to remove the veil from before them without incon- 
venience ? ^ 

The peace of Presbourg rendered Bonaparte master 
of the whole of Germany and Italy, and he soon seized 
the kingdom of Naples. Being upon bad terms with 
the court of Rome, he immediately commenced to ha- 
rass the pope, who had so lately traversed the Alps to 
give him the holy unction. This glorious peace pro- 
duced another very important result — the erection of 
the electorates of Bavaria and Wurtemberg into king- 
doms, and the marriage of the king of Bavaria's daugh- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 209 

ter with Eugene Beuharnais, Napoleon's adopted son. 
Such was the first link in those alliances which at last 
ruined Bonaparte, who was already less interested in 
his own glory, than infatuated with the wish of distribu- 
ting crowns, and of mingling his blood with that of the 
old dynasties which he was continually opposing. In 
the interior, the battle of Austerlitz and the peace re- 
conciled Bonaparte with public opinion — all eyes began 
to be dazzled by the splendour of his victories. 

I congratulated him upon this happy improvement in 
the public mind. " Sire," said I to him, " Austerlitz 
has destroyed the old aristocracy ; the Faubourg St. 
Germain can no longer form conspiracies." He was 
delighted at it, and owned to me that in battle, in 
the greatest dangers, and even in the midst of deserts, 
he had always in view the good opinion of Paris, and 
especially of the Faubourg St. Germain. He was 
Alexander the Great constantly directing his thoughts 
towards Athens. 

The old nobility were, therefore, now seen be- 
sieging the Tuileries, as well as my saloon, and soli- 
citing, nay begging, for appointments. The old re- 
publicans reproached me with protecting the nobles. 
This did not, however, make me change my plan ; I 
had besides a grand object in view, that of extinguish- 
ing and converting all party spirit into an undivided in- 
terest in the government. Much severity, qualified by 
mildness, had pacified the departments of the west, so 
long agitated by civil war. We could now affirm that 
neither Vendeans nor Chouans any longer existed. 
The disaffected, as well as the emigrants, wandered in 
small numbers through England. Many of the old 
chiefs had made a sincere submission; few held out. 
All secret organizations and dangerous intrigues were 
at an end. The Royalist Association of Bourdeaux, 
one of the firmest, was broken up. All the agents of 
the Bourbons in the interior had either been succes- 
sively gained over, or had become known, from M. 
Hyde de Neuville and the Chevalier de Cois^ny, to 
27 



210 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Talon and M. Royer-Colard. Some emissaries, sus- 
pected of hostile intentions, had been severely dealt 
with, among whom Avas the Baron de la Rochefou- 
cauld, who died in a state-prison. As to old Talon, ar- 
rested by Savary upon his estate at Gatinais, in conse- 
quence of an ex officio accusation, he at first experienced 
such brutal treatment, that I informed the emperor 
of it. Savary was reprimanded. Talon's daughter, a 
most interesting girl,* excited a general sympathy, and 
contributed in a great degree to alleviate her father's 
fate : she herself saved some important papers. I 
heartily interested myself in affording relief to the 
victims of the royal cause, as well as to the martyrs of 
republican sentiments. Such a system, on my part, at 
first astonished every one ; but it afterwards procured 
me crowds of partisans. I really appeared likely to 
succeed in converting the police, an instrument of in- 
quisitorial power and severity, into one of mildness and 
indulgence. But a malicious spirit interfered; I was 
continually beset by jealousy, envy, and intrigue, on 
one side ; and on the other by the want of confidence 
and the mistrust of my master. Finding itself supported, 
the counter-revolutionary faction, under the mask of a 
religious and anti-philosophical society, adopted the sys- 
tem of traducing and removing all who had taken part 
in the revolution, and of completely surrounding the 
emperor. For this purpose, and with the view of com- 
manding public opinion, it got possession of the journals 
and of literature in general. Affecting to defend taste 
and the belles lettres, it carried on a mortal war against 
the revolution, whether in the pamphlets of Geolfroi, 
or in the columns of the Mercure. While invoking the 
grand era of a temperate monaichy, it at the same 
time was working for a power without control and 
without limits. As to Napoleon, he attached no politi- 
cal importance, as an organ, to any paper but the Mo- 
nit€W\ thinking he had made it the power and soul of 

* Now the Countess du Cavla. — JVote by the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 211 

his government, as well as his medium of communica- 
tion with public opinion both at home and abroad. 
Finding himself more or less imitated in this respect, 
by other governments, he thought himself certain of 
this moral engine. 

I was appointed regulator of the public mind, and of 
the journals which were its organs; and I had even 
bureaux for this business. Some persons, however, did 
not fail to observe that this was placing too much pow- 
er and strength in my hands. The Journal des Debats 
was accordingly removed from my control, and placed 
under that of one of my personal enemies.* They 
thought to console me in some degree for this by per- 
mitting me to snatch the Mercure from the hands of the 
counter-revolutionary faction. But the system of de- 
priving me of the journals was not less acted upon in the 
cabinet, and I was soon reduced to the Publiciste of 
Suard, and the Decade Philosophique of Ginguene. 

The influence of Fontanes having continually in- 
creased since his advancement to the presidency of the 
legislative corps, he used his utmost to introduce his 
friends into the avenues of -power. His devoted writer, 
M. Mole, the inheritor of a name illustrious in the par- 
liamentary annals, produced his Essals de Morale et de 
Politique, a most injudicious apology for despotism as it 
is exercised in Morocco. Fontanes passed great eulogi- 
ums upon this essay in the Journal des Debats ; I com- 
plained of it. The emperor publicly blamed Fontanes, 
who excused himself by his desire of encouraging such 
distinguished, talents in so .distinguished a name. It was 
upon this occasion that the emperor said to him, " In 
God's name ! M. de Fontanes, leave us at least the re- 
public of letters." 

But the game was now jjlayed ; the young adept of 
the imperial orator was almost immediately named au- 
ditor of the council of state, then maitre des reguetes, 
and minister in petto. 

* Doubtless M. Fievee. — .^ote by the Editor. 



212 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

It must be also confessed that the emperor willingly 
permitted himself to be gulled bj the charm of the 
names of the old regime ; h*- likewise allowed himself 
to be seduced by the magic of the eloquence of Fon- 
tanes, who panegyrized him with dignity, whilst so 
many others only offered him gross and vulgar flattery. 
Some idea may be formed of the disposition of the 
public, and the tendency of literature at this period, 
from the fact that this very year there appeared a his- 
tory of La Vendee, in which the Vendeans were re- 
presented as heroes, and the republicans as incendiaries 
and cut-throats. Nor was this all : this history, consider- 
ed as impartial, and cried up as possessing the greatest 
interest, was eagerly purchased, — and, in fact, became 
the rage of the day. All the revolution party were 
highly indignant at it. I was obliged to interfere, in 
order to apply an antidote capable of counteracting the 
assertions of this historian of stage-coach plunderers 
(detrousseurs de diligences*^ 

In the mean time, the consequences and political 
advantages of Austerlitz and Presbourg were about to be 
immense. First, by an imperial decree, Joseph Bona- 
parte was proclaimed king of the Two Sicilies, the 
Moniteur having previously announced that the dynasty 
then upon the throne had ceased to reign. Almost im- 
mediately afterwards Louis Bonaparte was proclaimed 
king of Holland, a crown, no doubt, to be envied, but 
one which could not make up for his domestic trou- 
bles. Murat had the grand duchy of Berg. The prin- 
cipalities of Lucca and Guastalla were given as pre- 
sents, one to Eliza, the other to Paulina. The duchy 
of Plaisance fell to Lebrun's share ; that of Parma to 
Cambaceres ; and, at a later period, the principality of 
Neufchatel was given to Berthier. In a privy council 
Napoleon had announced to us that he intended to dis- 

* Fonche, no doubt, here alludes to the pamphlet of M de Vau- 
ban, which was published at that time by the police to counter- 
balance the etfect produced by the history of the war of La Ven- 
dee. — Note by the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 213 

pose of his conquests in a sovereign manner by creating 
grandees of the empire and a new nobility. Shall I 
confess that, when in a fuller council, he proposed the 
question, whether the establishment of hereditary titles 
was contrary to the principles of equality which almost 
all of us professed, we replied in the negative ? In 
fact, the empire, being a new monarchy, the creation 
of grand officers, of grand dignitaries, and the supply of 
a new nobility appeared indispensable to us. Besides, 
the object was to reconcile ancient France with modern 
France, and to cause all remains of feudality to disap- 
pear, by attaching the ideas of nobility to services ren- 
dered the state. 

On the 30th of March appeared an imperial decree, 
which Napoleon was satisfied with communicating to 
the senate, and which erected into duchies, grand fiefs of 
the empire, Dalmatia, Istria, Friuli, Cadora, Belluno,Co- 
negliano, Trevisa, Feltre, Bassano, Vicenza, Padua, and 
Rovigo, Napoleon reserving to himself the conferring 
the investiture with right of succession. It is for con- 
temporaries to judge who were among the small num- 
ber of the elect. 

Created Prince of Benevento, the minister Talley- 
rand possessed that principality as a fief immediately 
dependent upon the imperial crown. 

I had also a handsome prize in this lottery, and was 
not long before I ranked myself, under the title of 
Duke of Otranto, among the chief feudatories of the 
empire. 

Till now, all fusion or amalgamation of the old no- 
bility with the chiefs of the revolution would have call- 
ed down the reprobation of public opinion. But the 
creation of new titles and of a national nobility effaced 
the line of demarcation, and gave rise to a new system 
of manners among the higher classes. 

An event of greater importance, the dissolution of 
the Germanic body, was also the consequence of the 
prodigious extension of the empire. In July appeared 
the treaty of the confederation of the Rhine. Four- 



214 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. / 

teen German princes declared their separation fropi the 
Germanic body, and their new confederation, mider the 
protection of the French emperor. This new federa- 
tive act, drawn up with much abihtj, was especially 
designed to isolate Prussia, and to fix still firmer the 
yoke imposed upon the Germans. 

This, and the disagreements which arose between 
France and Prussia, had the effect of unmasking Rus- 
sia, whose policy had for some time appeared equivo- 
cal. She refused to ratify the treaty of peace recent- 
ly concluded, alleging that her envoy had exceeded his 
instructions. In her tergiversations we only saw an ar- 
tifice for gaining time. 

Since the decease of William Pitt, whose death 
had been occasioned by grief at the disasters of the 
last coalition, England negotiated under the auspices 
of Charles Fox, who had succeeded to the direction 
of affairs. Much was expected from a minister who 
had constantly reprobated the coalitions formed for 
the purpose of re-establishing in France the old dy- 
nasty. 

In the mean time the war with Prussia broke out, a 
war which had been in preparation since the battle of 
Austerlltz, and which was less occasioned by the coun- 
sels of the cabinet than by the compilers of secret me- 
moirs. They began by representing the Prussian mo- 
narchy as about to fall by a breath, like a house built 
with cards. I have read several of these memoirs, one 
amongst others, very artfully writteri by Montgaillard, 
who was then in high pay. I can affirm, that for the 
last three months, this war was already prepared like 
a coup de theatre ; all the chances and casualties were 
calculated, considered, and provided against, with the 
greatest exactness. 

1 considered it ill-becoming the dignity of crowned 
heads, to see a cabinet so ill regulated. The Prussian 
monarchy, whose safeguard it should have been, de- 
pended upon the cunning of some intriguers and the 
energy of a few subsidized persons who were the very 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 215 

puppets of our will. Jena ! history will one day de- 
velope thy secret causes. 

The delirium caused by the wonderful results of the 
Prussian campaign completed the intoxication of France. 
She prided herself upon having been saluted with the 
name of the great nation by her emperor, who had 
triumphed over the genius and the Avork of Frederic ; 
and Napoleon believed himself the son of Destiny, call- 
ed to break every sceptic. Peace, and even a truce 
with England, was no longer thought of; the rupture 
of the negotiations, the death of Charles Fox, the de- 
parture of Lord Lauderdale, and the arrogance of the 
victor, were events rapidly succeeding each other. 
The idea of destroying the power of England, the sole 
obstacle to universal monarchy, now became his fixed 
resolve. It was with this view he established the con- 
tinental system, the first decree concerning which was 
dated from Berlin. Napoleon was convinced, that by 
depriving England of all the outlets for its manufac- 
tures, he should reduce it to poverty, and that it must 
then submit to its fate. He not only thought of sub- 
jecting it, but also of ejffecting its destruction. 

Little acted upon by delusion, and enabled to see and 
observe all, I foresaw the misfortunes which would 
sooner or later fall upon the people. It was still worse 
when the lists were to be entered against the Russians. 
The battle of Eylau, of which I had detailed accounts, 
made me tremble. There, every thing had been dis- 
puted to the last extremity. It was no longer the pup- 
pets which fell as at Ulm, Austerlitz, and Jena. The 
sight was equally grand and terrible ; corps was oppos- 
ed to corps, at a distance of three hundred leagues from 
the Rhine. I seized my pen, and wrote to Napoleon 
neatly in the same terms I bad used before Marengo, 
but with more explicitness, for the circumstances were 
more complicated. I Told him that we were sure of 
maintaining tranquillity in France ; that Austria could 
not stir; that England hesitated to unite itself with 
Russia, whose cabinet appeared to be vaccillating ; but 



216 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

that the loss of a battle between the Vistula and the 
Nieinen Avould compromise all ; that the Berlin decree 
was subversive of too many interests ; and that, in mak- 
ing war upon kings, care should be taken not to push 
the people to extremities. I entreated him, in terms 
the most urgent, to employ all his genius, all his pow- 
ers of destruction and policy, to bring about a quick 
glorious peace like all those for which we had been in- 
debted to his good fortune. He understood me ; but 
one more victory was necessary. 

From the victory of Eylau, he evinced real discre- 
tion and ability ; so strong in conception, so energetic 
in character, and pursuing his object, that of overcom- 
ing the Russian cabinet, with unceasing perseverance. 
Nothing of consequence escaped him ; his eye was 
everywhere. Many intrigues were formed against him 
on the continent, but without success. Agents were 
despatched from London to tamper with Paris, to tam- 
per even with myself. 

Only imagine the English cabinet falling into the 
snares of our police, even after the mystifications of 
Drake and Spencer Smith ; onlj' imagine Lord How- 
ick, minister of state for foreign affairs, despatching an 
emissary to me with secret instructions, and the bearer 
of a letter for me enclosed in the knobs of a cane. 
This minister requested of me two blank passports for 
two agents instrusted to open a secret negotiation with 
me. But his emissary having imprudently placed con- 
fidence in the agent of the prefecture, Perlet, the vile 
instrument of the whole plot, the bamboo of Vitel was 
opened, and the mission being discovered, together with 
the secret, nothing could save the life of the unfortu- 
nate young man. 

It was impossible but that such a circumstance should 
produce some mistrust in the mind of Napoleon ; he 
must, at least, have supposed that the idea in foreign 
countries was that I was capable of being acted upon, 
and that I was a man who would listen to all, and take 
advantage of all, provided I could secure my own safe- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ^17 

ty. Nor was this the only overture of this kind, for 
such was the blindness of the men composing the cabi- 
net of St. James', in the interests of the counter-revo- 
lution, that they persuaded themselves I was not averse 
to work in favour of the Bourbons, and to betray Bo- 
naparte. This was wholly founded upon the opinion 
generally disseminated, that, instead of persecuting the 
royalists in the interior, I, on the contrary, sought to 
guarantee and protect them ; that, besides, a person 
was always welcome when they applied personally to 
me for every kind of information and confidence. So 
much was this the case, that a few months after the 
death of Vitel, having taken up from off my desk a 
sealed letter directed private, I opened it, and found it 
so urgent, that I granted a private audience to the per- 
son who requested it for the next day. 

This letter was signed by a borrowed name, but one 
well known among the emigrants, and I really thought 
that the subscriber was the person who was desirous 
of an interview. But what was my surprise, when this 
person, full of confidence, gifted with a language the 
most persuasive, and displaying manners the most ele- 
gant, owned his artifice, and dared to avow before me 
that he was an agent of the Bourbons and the envoy of 
the English cabinet ! In an animated but rapid manner, 
he proved the fragility of Napoleon's power, his ap- 
proaching decline (it was at the commencement of the 
Spanish war,) and his inevitable fall. He then con- 
cluded by conjuring me, by the welfare of France and 
the peace of the world, to join the good cause, to save 
the nation from the abyss ; all possible guaran- 
tees were offered me. And who was this man ? Count 
Dache, formerly captain in the royal navy. " Unfor- 
tunate man," said I to him, " you have introduced your- 
self into my cabinet by means of a subterfuge." " Yes," 
cried he, " my life is in your hands, and, if it be neces- 
sary, I shall willingly sacrifice it for my God and my 
king." — " JNo," rejoined I, " you are seated on my 
hearth, and I will not violate the hospitality due to 

28 



218 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

misfortune ; for, both as a man, and not as a magistrate, 
I can pardon the excess of your error, and your deluded 
conduct. I allow you twenty-four hours to leave Paris ; 
but, I declare to you that, at the expiration of that time, 
strict orders will be given for your discovery and appre- 
hension ; I know whence you come ; I know your chain 
of correspondence, therefore reflect well that this is 
only a truce of twenty-four hours ; and even I shall not 
be able to save you in this short space of time, if your 
secret, and your conduct be known to any but myself." 
He assured me that not a soul had the least idea of it, 
neither abroad nor in France ; and that those even who 
had received him upon the coast were ignorant of his 
having hazarded himself as far as Paris. " Well," 
said I to him, " I give you twenty-four hours ; go." 

I should have been deficient in my duty, had 1 not 
informed the emperor of what had passed. The only 
variation which I allowed myself was the supposition of 
a safe conduct previously obtained from me by Count 
Dache, under pretext of important information he was 
desirous of making to me alone. This was indispensa- 
ble, for I was certain that Napoleon could have dis- 
approved of my generosity, and would even have per- 
ceived something suspicious in it. Independently of the 
police orders, he, himself, gave some extremely rigorous 
ones, so much he feared his enemies' energy and deci- 
sion. The whole of the police was set in motion against 
the unfortunate count, and such was the perseverance, 
that at the moment of re-embarking for London, on the 
coast of Calvados, he perished by a dreadful death, 
having been betrayed by a woman, whose name is now 
an object of execration among the ancient friends of the 
ill-fated count. 

It may easily be conceived that so hazardous and peri- 
lous a mission was neither a-jven nor executed imme- 
diately after the negotiations, and the treaty of Tilsit, 
the glorious result of the victory of Friedland. 

I have now to characterize this grand epoch of Napo- 
leon's political life. The event was calculated to fasci- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 219 

nate all minds. The old aristocracy was completely 
humbled by it. " Why is he not a legitimate .^" said the 
Faubourg Saint Germain ; " Alexander and Napoleon 
approach each other, the war ceases, and a hundred 
millions of men enjoy repose and tranquillity." This 
trickery gained credit, and it was not perceived that 
the duumvirate of Tilsit was but a pretended treaty of 
a division of the world between two potentates and two 
empires, which, once in contact, must end by clashing 
against each other. 

In the secret treaty, Alexander and Napoleon shared 
betwieen them the continental world ; all the south was 
abandoned to Napoleon, already master of Italy and 
arbiter of Germany, pushing his advanced post as far as 
the Vistula, and making Dantzic one of the most formi- 
dable arsenals. 

Upon his return to St. Cloud, on the 27th of July, he 
received the most insipid and extravagant adulations, 
from all the principal authorities. Every day I per- 
ceived the change which infatuation wrought in this 
great character ; he became more and more reserved 
with his ministers. Eight days after his return, he 
made some remarkable changes in the ministry. The 
portfolio of war was intrusted to General Clarke, since 
Duke of Feltre, and that of the interior to Cretet, at 
that time a simple counsellor of state ; Berthier was 
made vice-constable. But what caused the greatest 
astonishment was to see the portfolio of foreign affairs 
given into the hands of Champagny, since Duke de 
Cadore. To deprive M. de Talleyrand of this depart- 
ment was a sign of disgrace, which was, however, dis- 
guised by favours purely conferring honours. M. de 
Talleyrand was promoted to be vice-grand elector, which 
did not fail to furnish subject matter for the punsters. 
It is certain that a disagreement of opinion upon the 
projects relative to Spain was the principal cause of his 
disgrace ; but this important subject had as yet only 
been treated of in a confidential manner between the 
emperor and him. At this period, the questioii had 



•32{)- MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

never been agitated in the council, at least, in my pre- 
sence. But I penetrated the mystery before even the 
secret treaty of Fontainbleau, which was executed 
towards the end of October. The same as that of 
Presburgh, the treaty of Tilsit was signalized by the 
previous erection of a new kingdom conferred upon 
Jerome, in the very heart of Germany. The new king 
was installed in it under the direction of preceptors 
assigned him by his brother, who reserved to himself 
the supremacy in the political guidance of the new tri- 
butary monarch. 

About this tinie was known the success of the attack 
upon Copenhagen by the English, which was the first 
blovv' given to the secret stipulations of Tilsit, in virtue 
of which the navy of Denmark was placed at the dis- 
posal of France. Since the catastrophe of Paul I., I 
never saw Napoleon abandon himself to more violent 
transports. What most struck him, in this vigorous 
enterprise, was the promptness of the resolution of the 
English ministry. He suspected afresh infidelity in the 
cabinet, and charged me to discover if it was connected 
with the mortification attendant upon a recent disgrace. 
I again represented to him how difficult it was in so 
mysterious a labyrinth, to discover any thing except by 
instinct or conjecture : " The traitors," said I, " must 
voluntarily betray themselves, for the police never 
know but what is told it, and that which chance dis- 
covers is little indeed." Upon this subject I had a 
curious and truly historical conference with a personage 
who has survived, and who still survives all ; but my 
present situation does not permit me to disclose the 
particulars of it. 

The affairs of the interior were conducted upon a 
system analogous with that pursued abroad, and which 
began to develope itself. On the 18th of September, 
the remains of the Tribunat were at length suppressed; 
not that the small minority of the tribunes could offer 
any hostility, but becayse it entered into the emperor's 
plansj not to allo\> the previous discussion of the laws ; 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCIIE. 221 

these were only in future to be presented by commis- 
sioners. Here opens the memorable year of 1808, the 
period of a new era, in which Napoleon's star began to 
wax dim. I had, at length, a confidential communica- 
tion of the real object which had induced him to enter 
into the secret treaty of Fontainbleau, and to determine 
upon the invasion of Portugal. Napoleon announced to 
me that the Bourbons of Spain, and the house of Bra- 
ganza, would shortly cease to reign. " Leaving Portugal 
out of the question," said 1 to him, " which is truly an 
English colony, with respect to Spain, you have no 
cause for complaint ; those Bourbons are, and will be 
as long as you wish it, your most humble prefects. 
Besides, are you not mistaken with respect to the cha- 
racter of the Peninsular people ? Take care ; you have, 
it is true, many partisans there ; but only because they 
consider you as a great and powerful potentate, as a 
friend and an ally. If you declare without any cause 
against the reigning family ; if, favoured by domestic 
dissensions, you realize the fable of the oyster and the 
lawyers, you must declare against the majority of the 
population. Besides, you ought to know that the Spa- 
niards are not a cold, phlegmatic people, like the Ger- 
mans ; they are attached to their manners, their govern- 
ment, and old customs ; the mass of the nation is not to 
be estimated by the heads of society, who are, as every 
where else, corrupted and possessed but of little patriot- 
ism. Once more, take care you do not transform a 
tributary kingdom into a new Vendee." " What is it 
you say ?" replied he ; " every reflecting person in 
Spain despises the government ; the Prince of the Peace, 
a true mayor of the palace, is detested by the nation ; 
he is a scoundrel who will himself open the gates of 
Spain for me. As to the rabble, whom you have men- 
tioned, who are still under the influence of monks and 
priests, a few cannon-shot will quickly disperse them. 
You have seen warlike Prussia, that heritage of the 
great Frederic, fall before my arms like a heap of 
rubbish ; well, you will see Spain surrender itself into 



222 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

my hands, without knowing it, and afterward applaud 
itself; I have there an immense party. I have resolved 
to continue in my own dynasty the family system of 
Louis XIV., uniting Spain to the destinies of France. 
I am desirous of availing myself of the only opportunity 
afforded me by fortune of regenerating Spain, of detach- 
ing it entirely from England, and of uniting it insepara- 
bly to my system. Reflect that the sun never sets in 
the immense inheritance of Charles V., and that I shall 
have the empire of both worlds." 

I found that it was a design resolved upon, that all 
the counsels of reason would avail nothing, and that the 
torrent must be left to take its course. However, I 
thought it my duty to add, that I entreated his Majesty 
to consider in his wisdom, whether all that was taking 
place was not a ruse-de-giierre ; whether the north were 
not anxious to embroil him with the south, as a useful 
diversion, and with the ultimate view of reuniting with 
England, at a convenient opportunity, in order to place 
the empire between two fires. " You are," cried he, 
" a true minister of police, who mistrusts every thing, 
and believes in nothing good. I am sure of Alexander, 
who is very sincere; I now exercise over him a kind of 
charm, independently of the guarantee offered me by 
those about him, of whom I am equally certain." Here 
Napoleon related to me all the trifling nonsense which 
I had heard from his suite respecting the interview at 
Tilsit, and the sudden predilection of the Russian court 
for the emperor and his people ; he did not omit the 
flattery by means of which he believed he had capti- 
vated the grand Duke Constantine himself, Avho, it is 
said, was not displeased at being told that he was the 
best-dressed prince in Europe, and had the finest thighs 
in the world. 

These confidential effusions were not useless to me. 
Seeing Napoleon in good-humour, I again spoke to him 
in favour of several persons for whom I particularly in- 
terested myself, and who all received valuable employ- 
ments. He began to be more satisfied with the Fau- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 223 

bourg St. Germain, and approving my liberal mode of 
directing the police as respected the old aristocracy, he 
told me that there were near Bourdeaux,* two families 
whom I regarded as disaffected and dangerous, but he 
wished them not to be molested, that is, that they 
should be watched, but without any species of inquisi- 
tion. " You have often told me," added Napoleon, 
" that you ought to be like me, the mediator between 
the old and new order of things : that is your office ; 
for that, in fact, is my policy in the interior. But, as to 
the exterior, do not meddle with that; leave me to act ; 
and, above all, do not be anxious to defend the pope ; it 
would be too ridiculous on your part ; leave that care 
to M. de Talleyrand, who is indebted to him for being 
now a secular, and possessing a beautiful wife in lawful 
wedlock." 1 began to laugh, and taking up my port- 
folio, made way for the minister of the marine. What 
Napoleon had just said to me about the pope, alluded 
to his disputes with the holy see, which began in 1805, 
and were daily growing more serious. The entrance of 
our troops into Rome coincided with the invasion of the 
Peninsula. Pious VII. almost immediately issued a brief, 
in which he threatened Napoleon that he would direct 
his spiritual weapons against him; no doubt they were 
much blunted, but they would, nevertheless, have their 
effect upon many minds. In my eyes, these disputes 
appeared the more impolitic, inasmuch as they could 
not fail to alienate a great part of the people of Italy, 
and among ourselves, to favour the petite eglise which 
we had annoyed for a long time; it began to avail itself 
of it to make common cause with the pope against the 
government. But Napoleon only proceeded to extremi- 
ties against the head of the church, that he might have 
a pretext for seizing Rome, and despoiling it of its tem- 

* Apparently, the families Donnissan and Larochejaquelein, unit- 
ed by the marriage of the Marquis de Larochejaquelein, who died 
in 1815, with the widow of the Marquis de Lescure, daughter of the 
Marchioness de Donnissan ; they then inhabited the chateau of 
Citran, in Medoc. 



224 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

poralities ; this was one branch of his vast plan of an 
universal monarchy, and of the i'e-organization of Eu- 
rope. I would willingly have seconded him, but I saw, 
with regret, that he sat out with false premises; and 
that opinion already commenced to arm itself against 
him. How, in fact, was it possible to proceed thus to 
universal conquest, without having at least the people 
on one's side ? Before imprudently saying, that his dy- 
nasty, which was but the dynasty of yesterday, should 
soon be the most ancient of Europe, he ought to have 
understood the art of separating kings from their peo- 
ple, and for that purpose, not have abandoned princi- 
ples, without which he himself could not exist. 

This affair of Rome was now eclipsed by the events 
which took place at Madrid and Bayonne, where Napo- 
leon arrived on the 15th of April, with his court and 
suite. Spain was already invaded ; and, under the mask 
of friendship, the French had taken possession of the 
principal fortresses in the north. 

Having seized Spain, and full of hopes. Napoleon 
now prepared to appropriate to himself the treasures 
of the new world, which five or six adventurers came to 
offer him as the infallible result of their intrigues. All 
the machinery of this vast plot was prepared ; a perfect 
understanding prevailed from the Chateau of Marrac to 
Madrid, Lisbon, Cadiz, Buenos Ay res, and Mexico. Na- 
poleon was followed by his private establishment of po- 
litical imposture : his Duke of Rovigo, Savary, his 
Archbishop of Molines, the Abbe Pradt, his Prince Pig- 
natelli, and many other tools more or less active of his 
diplomatic frauds. The ex-minister, Talleyrand, was 
also in his suite, but more as a passive observer than 
an agent. 

I had warned Napoleon, on the eve of his departure, 
that the public opinion became irritated by the anxiety 
of expectation; and that the talk of the day had alrea- 
dy reached a height far above the power of my three 
hundred regulators of Paris to suppress. 

This was still Avorse when events developed them- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 225 

selves ; when by stratagem and perfidy, all the family 
of Spain found itself caught in the Bayonne nets; when 
the Madrid massacre of the 2nd of May took place; 
and when the rising of nearly an entire nation had 
set almost the whole of the Peninsula in a conflagra- 
tion. All was known and ascertained in Paris, not- 
withstanding the incredible efforts of all the police 
establishments to intercept or prevent the knowledge 
of public events. Never in the whole course of my 
two ministries, did I see so decided a reprobation of 
the insatiable ambition and machiavelism of the head 
of the state. This convinced me, that in an impor- 
tant crisis truth would assert all its rights, and regain 
all its empire. 1 received from Bayonne two or three 
very harsh letters, respecting the bad state of the 
public mind, for Avhich I seemed to be in some de- 
gree considered as responsible ; ray bulletins were a 
sufficient answer. Towards the end of July, after the 
capitulation of Baylen, it became impossible to restrain 
it. The counter-police, and the emperor's private cor- 
respondents took the alarm ; they even deceived them- 
selves, so far as to put him on his guard against the 
symptoms of a conspiracy totally imaginary in Paris. 
The emperor quitted Bayonne in all haste, after several 
violent fits of rage, which Avere metamorphosed in the 
saloons of the Chaussee d'Antin, and the Faubourg Saint 
Germain, into an attack of fever. Traversing La Ven- 
dee, he returned to Saint Cloud, by the Loire. I ex- 
pected some severe observations upon ray first audience, 
and was consequently on my guard. " You have been 
too indulgent, Duke d'Otranto," were his first Avords. 
" How is it that you have permitted so many nests of 
babblers and slanderers to be formed in Paris?" "Sire, 
when every one is implicated, what is to be done; be- 
sides, the police cannot penetrate into the interior of fa- 
milies, and the confidences of friendship." "But fo 
Feigners have excited disaffection in Paris." " No, Sire, 
the public discontent has been confined to itself; old 
passions have been revived, and in this respect, there 
29 



226 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

has been much expression of discontent. But nations 
cannot be aroused, without arousing the passions. It 
would be impoHtic, imprudent even, to exasperate the 
public mind, by unseasonable severity. This disturbance 
has likewise been exaggerated to your majesty ; it will 
be appeased, as so many others have been ; all will de- 
pend upon this Spanish business, and the attitude as- 
sumed by Continental Europe. Your majesty has sur- 
mounted difficulties much more serious, and crises much 
more important." It was then, that striding up and 
down his cabinet, he again spoke to me of the Spanish 
war, as a mere skirmish, which scarcely deserved a few 
cannon shot ; at the same time flying into a rage against 
Murat, Moncey, and especially Dupont, whose capitula- 
tion he stigmatized with the term infamous, declaring 
that he would make an example in the army. " I will 
conduct this war of peasants and monks," continued he, 
"myself, and I hope to thrash the English soundly. I 
will Immediately come to an understanding with the 
Emperor Alexander, for the ratification of the treaties 
and the preservation of the tranquillity of Europe. Ill 
three months, I will reconduct my brother to Madrid, 
and in four I myself will enter Lisbon, if the English 
dare to set foot there. I will punish this rabble and 
will drive out the English." All was henceforth con- 
ducted upon this plan of operations. Confidential agents 
and couriers were despatched to St. Petersburgh. The 
favourable answer was not long delayed. The town of 
Erfurt was chosen for the Interview of the two empe- 
rors. Nothing could be more auspicious than this in- 
terview, where, at the end of September the czar came 
to fraternize with Napoleon. These two formidable 
arbiters of the continent passed eighteen days together 
in the greatest intimacy, in the midst of fetes and 
amusements. Recourse was also had to a diplomatic 
mummery sent to the King of England, for the appa- 
rent purpose of obtaining his being a party to the gene- 
ral peace. I had given the emperor, before his de- 
parture, information that ought to have undeceived him ; 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 227 

but what do I say ? He, perhaps, beheved no more 
than myself, in the possibility of a peace with which he 
would not have known what to do. 

Erfurt brought back opinion. At the opening of the 
legislative corps, on the 26th of October, Napoleon, on 
his return, declared himself to be indissolubly united 
with the Emperor Alexander both for peace and war. 
" Soon^'' said he, " my eagles shall hover over the towers 
of Lisbon.^^ 

But this circumstance revealed to reflecting minds 
his weakness in a national war, which he dared not pro- 
secute without a support in Europe, which might es- 
cape him. It was no longer Napoleon acting by him- 
self. His embarrassments became serious from the time 
of his declaring war against the people. ^ 

Spain, the gulf in which Napoleon was about to 
plunge, raised in me many gloomy forebodings ; I saw in 
it a centre of resistance, supported by England, and 
which might offer to our continental enemies favourable 
opportunities of again assailing our political existence. 
It was melancholy to reflect that by an imprudent en- 
terprise, the solidity of our conquests, and even our ex- 
istence as a nation, had become a matter of doubt. By 
continually braving new dangers. Napoleon, our found- 
er, might fall either by ball or bullet, or sink under the 
knife of the fanatic. It was but too true that all our 
power centred in a single man, who without posterity, 
required of Providence at least twenty years, to com- 
plete and consolidate his work. If he were taken from 
us before this term, he would not even have, like Alex- 
ander the Macedonian, his own lieutenants for the in- 
heritors of his power and glory, nor for the guarantee 
of our existence. Thus this vast and formidable em- 
pire, created as if by enchantment, had nothing but a 
fragile foundation, which might vanish on the wings of 
death. The hands which had assisted in its elevation 
were too weak to support it without a living stay. If 
the serious circumstances in which we were placed gave 
rise to these reflections in ray mind, the peculiar situa- 



228 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

tion of the emperor added to them the greatest degree 
of sohcitude and anxiety. 

The charm of his domestic habits Avas broken ; death 
had carried off that infant, who, at the same time, his 
nephew and adopted son, had by his birth drawn so 
close the ties which bound him to Josephine through 
Hortense, and to Hortense through Josephine. " I re- 
cognise myself," said he, " in this child !" And he al- 
ready indulged the fond idea that he would succeed 
him. How often on the terrace of Saint Cloud, after 
his breakfast, has he been seen contemplating with 
transport this tender offset, whose disposition and man- 
ners were so engaging; and disengaging himself from 
the cares of the empire, join in its infantine games! 
Did he evince ever so little determination, ever so tri- 
fling a predilection for the noise of the drum, for arms 
and the glorious circumstance of war, Napoleon would 
cry out with enthusiasm : " This boy will be worthy to 
succeed me — he may even surpass me !" At the very 
moment such high destinies were preparing for him, 
this beautiful child, a victim to the croup, was snatched 
away from him. Thus was broken a reed on which a 
great man had been anxious to lean. 

Never did I see Napoleon a prey to deeper and more 
concentrated grief; never did I see Josephine and her 
daughter in more agonizing affliction : they appeared to 
find in it a mournful presentiment of a futurity without 
happiness and without hope. The courtiers themselves 
sympathized with them, in a misfortune so severe; as 
for myself, I saw broken the link of the perpetuity of 
the empire. 

It would ill have become me to have kept within my 
own breast the suggestions of my foresight ; but m or- 
der to make them known to Napoleon, I waited till time 
should have in some manner alleviated his grief. With 
him, besides, the pains of the heart were subordinate 
to the cares of empire, to the highest combinations of 
policy and war. What greater diversion could he have ? 
But already distractions of a different kind, and more 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 229 

efficacious consolations had soothed his regrets, and bro- 
ken the monotony of his habits : officiously encouraged 
by his confidant Duroc, he had given himself up, not to 
the love of women, but to the physical enjoyment of 
their charms. Two ladies of the court have been men- 
tioned as being honoured with his stolen embraces, and 
who were just replaced by the beautiful Italian, Char- 
lotte Gaz born Brind . Napoleon, captivated 

by her beauty, had conferred a recent favour upon her. 
It Avas also known, that being freed from the restraints 
of common-place domesticity, he no longer had the same 
room nor the same bed as Josephine. This kind of 
nuptial separation had taken place, in consequence of a 
violent altercation caused by the jealousy of his wife,* 
and since then he had refused to resume the domestic 
chain. As to Josephine, her torments were much less 
occasioned hy a wounded heart, than by the thorns of 
unquiet apprehensions. She was alarmed at the conse- 
quences of the sudden loss of Hortense's son, of the ne- 
glect of her daughter, and the abandonment of herself. 
She foresaw the future, and was in despair at her ster- 
ility. 

The concurrence of these circumstances both political 
and domestic, and the fear of one day seeing their em- 
peror, when age approached, follow the traces of a 
Sardan»palus, suggested to me the idea of endeavouring 
to give a future prospect to a magnificent empire of 
which I^jWas one of the chief guardians. In a confiden- 
tial memoir, which I read to him myself, I represented 
to him the necessity of dissolving his marriage ; of im- 
mediately forming, as emperor, a new alliance more 
suitable and more happy ; and of giving an heir to the 
throne on which Providence had placed him. My con- 
clusion was the natural consequence of the strongest and 
most solid arguments which the necessities of the state 
could suggest. 

* In 1805, at the camp of Boulogne, according to the Memorial de 
Sainte Helene. — JYote of the Editor. 



230 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Without declaring any thing positive upon this seri- 
ous and important subject, Napoleon let me perceive, 
that in a political point of view, the dissolution of his 
marriage was already determined in his mind, but that 
he was not yet as decided respecting the alliance he 
intended to form ; that, on the other hand, he was sin- 
gularly attached both by habit and a kind of supersti- 
tion, to Josephine ; and that the most painful step for 
him would be to inform her of the divorce. The whole 
of this communication was made in a few significant mo- 
nosyllables, and two or three almost enigmatical phrases ; 
but these were sufficient for me. Urged by an excess 
of zeal, I resolved to effect the breach, and prepare 
Josephine for this great sacrifice demanded by the so- 
lidity of the empire and the emperor's happiness. 

Such an overture required some preliminaries. I 
waited for an opportunity ; it presented itself one Sun- 
day at Fontainbleau, upon returning from mass. There, 
detaining Josephine in the recess of a window, I gave, 
with all verbal precautions, and all possible delicacy, the 
first hint of a separation, which I represented to her as 
the most sublime, and, at the same time, as the most 
inevitable of sacrifices. She coloured at first ; then 
turned pale ; her lips began to swell, and I perceived 
over her whole frame symptoms which caused me to 
apprehend a nervous attack, or some other physical 
convulsion. It was only in a stammering voice that she 
questioned me, to know if I had been ordered to make 
her this melancholy communication. I told her I had 
had no order, but that I foresaw the necessities of the 
future ; and, hastening by some general reflection to 
break off so painful a conversation, I pretended to have 
an engagement with one of my colleagues and quitted 
her. I learnt, the next day, that there had been much 
grief and disagreement in the interior of the palace; 
that a very passionate but affecting explanation had 
taken place between Josephine and Napoleon, who had 
disowned me ; and that this woman, naturally so mild, 
so good, and being besides under more than one kind of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 231 

obligation tome, had earnestly solicited as a favour my 
dismissal for having preferred the welfare of France to 
her personal interests, and to the gratification of her 
vanity. Although he protested I had spoken without 
orders, the emperor refused to dismiss me, for that was 
the word, and he pacified Josephine as well he could, 
by alleging on my behalf political pretexts. It was 
evident to me, that if he had not already secretly de- 
termined upon his divorce, he would have sacrificed me, 
instead of contenting himself with a mere disavowal of 
my conduct. But Josephine was his dupe ; she had not 
strength of mind sufficient to prevent her flattering her- 
self with vain illusions ; she thought she could obviate 
all by wretched artifices. Who would believe it ? she 
proposed to the emperor one of those political frauds 
which would have been the derision of all Europe, of- 
fering to carry on the deception of a fictitious pregnan- 
cy. Certain that she would have recourse to this, I 
had trumpeted forth the possibility of this trick, by 
means of my agents, so that the emperor had only to 
show her my police bulletins to get rid of her impor- 
tunities. 

Greater events made a powerful diversion. On the 
4th of November, Napoleon in person opened the se- 
cond campaign of the Peninsula, after having drawn 
from Germany eighty thousand veterans. After kindling 
an immense conflagration, he hastened to extinguish it 
by rivers of blood. But what could do against a whole 
people inarms and revolutionized ? Besides, all was 
now to inspire him with suspicion and inquietude ; he 
went even so far as to persuade himself that a centre 
of resistance was forming in Paris, of which M. de Tal- 
leyrand and I were the secret promoters. 

After learning that one hundred and twenty-five black 
balls, being one-third of opposers to his will, had just 
astonished the legislative corps, he was so shocked and 
alarmed at it, that he thought fit to despatch from Val- 
ladolid, on the 4th of December, an official note, expla- 
natory of the essence of the imperial government, and 



232 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the place which he was pleased to assign the legisla- 
ture in it. " Our misfortunes," said he, " have partly 
arisen from those exaggerated ideas which have induc- 
ed a body of men" to believe themselves the represen- 
tatives of the nation ; it would be a chimerical and 
even criminal pretension, to wish to represent the na- 
tion, before the emperor. The legislative corps should 
be called the legislative council, since it has not the 
power of making laws, not having the power of propos- 
ing them. In the order of the constitutional hierarchy, 
the first representative of the nation is the emperor, 
and his ministers the organs of his decisions. All would 
fall again into anarchy, if other constitutional ideas 
should interfere and pervert those of our monarchical 
constitution." 

These oracles of absolute power would but have ex- 
asperated the public mind, under a weak and capricious 
prince ; but Napoleon had continually the sword in his 
hand, and victory still followed his steps. Thus all still 
succumbed ; and the mere ascendancy of his power suf- 
ficed to dissipate every germ of legal opposition. When 
it was known that he had just entered Madrid as an ir- 
ritated conqueror, and that he was determined to sur- 
prise and drive the English army before him, the war 
was supposed to be finished, and I thus instructed my 
active agents. But suddenly leaving the English, and 
abandoning the war to his lieutenants, the emperor re- 
turned amongst us in a sudden and unexpected manner ; 
whether, as those about him assured me, that he was 
alarmed at the information, that a band of Spanish fa- 
natics had sworn to assassinate him (I believed it, and 
had on my side given the same advice) ; or whether he 
was still acted upon by the fixed idea of a coalition in Pa- 
ris against his authority. I think both these motives 
united had their weight with him; but they were dis- 
guised by referring the urgency of his sudden return to 
the preparations of Austria. Napoleon had still three 
or four months good, and he knew as well as I, that if 
Austria did make a stir, she was not yet ready. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 233 

At my first audience, he sounded me upon the affair 
of the legislative body, and his imperial rebuke. Isaw 
him coming round, and I replied, that it was very well ; 
that it was thus raonarchs should govern ; that if anybody 
whatsoever arrogated to itself alone the right of repre- 
senting him, the sovereign, the only thing to be done 
would be to dissolve it ; and that if Louis XVL had acted 
so, that unhappy prince might still have lived and reigned. 
Fixing upon me eyes full of astonishment, — " How ! Duke 
of Otranto," said he to me, after a moment's silence ; 
" if I recollect right, however, you are one of those who 
sent Louis XVI. to the scaffold !" — " Yes, Sire," replied 
I, without hesitation, " and that is the first service I have 
had the happiness of rendering your majesty." 

Summoning to his aid all the strength of his genius 
and character, to surmount the aggression of Austria, 
he arranged his plans, and hastened to execute them 
with the utmost promptitude. Some apprehensions 
were entertained, that he might be forced, or else sur- 
prised, in the defiles of the Black Mountains, for his 
forces were not strong, and he would have been re- 
duced to act on the defensive, had he permitted the 
concentration of the Austrian masses to be effected. 
Tann, Abensberg, Eckmiihl, and Ratisbon, witnessed 
the rapid triumph of our arms; and signalized the hap- 
py commencement of a campaign the more serious, from 
our carrying on, contrary to the rules of sound policy, 
two wars at once. 

The preparations made by Schill, in Prussia, revealed 
to us all the danger. This Prussian major, raising the 
standard of revolt, had just been brought forward by 
the Schneiders, and the Steins, the chiefs of the illumi- 
nati ; it was a weak effort upon the part of Prussia. The 
inhabitants of the northern part of Germany were very 
near rising, in imitation of the people of the Peninsula. 
Hemmed in by two national wars, Napoleon would have 
fallen four years sooner. This circumstance caused me 
to make serious reflections upon the fragility of an em- 
30 



234 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

pire which had no other support than arms, and no 
other stimulus than an unbridled ambition. 

We breathed again after the occupation of Vienna; 
but Schill was still active in Saxony, and the inhabitants 
of Vienna showed much irritation. Several insurrec- 
tions took place in this capital of Austria. Soon the 
first reports upon the battle of Essling arrived to renew 
our alarms, and increase our uneasiness; these reports 
were succeeded by confidential communications, almost 
all afflicting. Not only Lannes, the only remaining 
friend of Napoleon, who dared to tell him the truth, 
had fallen gloriously ; but we had also eight thousand 
men killed, eighteen thousand wounded, among whom 
were three generals, and above five hundred officers 
of all ranks. If, after losses so serious, the army 
was saved, it owed its preservation not to Napoleon, but 
to the coolness of Massena. 

Our perplexity in Paris may be easily conceived, as 
well as what efforts and address were necessary to 
throw a veil over this severe check, which might be 
followed by more than one disaster! As to Napoleon, 
he declared himself in his bulletins to have been victo- 
rious, and to account for not following up his victory, he 
accused, in rather a trivial manner, General Danube, the 
best officer in the Austrian service. In fact, it was im- 
possible to account for the want of activity in the arch- 
duke, after so many losses on our side, and after we 
could only find refuge in the isle of Lobau. In propor- 
tion to the impudence of the bulletin, the greater were 
the commentaries upon it. 

The numerous enemies which Naooleon had in 
h ranee, whether among the republicans, or the royalists, 
again began to show themselves. The Faubourg St. 
Germain resumed its hostility, and even some conspira- 
cies were on foot in La Vendee. All those parties 
openly flattered themselves, that tlie affair of Essling 
would prove a fatal blow to the emperor. 

The events upon the Danube had created so much 
interest, that scarcely any attention was bestowed upon 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 235 

those taking place at Rome. It was reserved for us, 
for us philosophers, the offspring of the 18th century, 
and adepts of increduHty — it was reserved for us, I say, 
to deplore as impolitic, the usurpation of the patrimony 
of St. Peter, and the persecution of the head of the 
church, by him even whom we had chosen for our per- 
petual dictator. A decree of ISapoleon's, towards the 
end of May, had ordered the annexation of the Roman 
states to the French Empire. What was the conse- 
quence? The venerable Pontiff, rivetted to the papal 
throne, finding himself disarmed, despoiled, and having 
only at his command spiritual weapons, issued bulls of 
excommunication against Napoleon and his coadjutors. 
All this would have only excited ridicule, had the peo- 
ple remained indifferent ; if public indignation had not 
rekindled expiring faith, in favour of the unyielding 
pontiff of the christians. Then it was that after sus- 
taining a species of siege in his palace, Pius VII. was 
forcibly torn from it, and carried from Rome, to be 
confined in Savona. Napoleon was aware how averse 
I was to these outrages, therefore I was not intrusted 
with the direction of them. The principal instruments 
against the pope, were Murat, Salicetti, Miollis, and 
Radet. I had to go great lengths, when the pope had 
arrived in Piedmont, to prevent his being forced to cross 
the Alps; it would have been upon me that they Avould 
willingly have thrown the responsibility of the last 
scenes of this persecution, which appeared to all so odi- 
ous and unjust. In spite of the reserve of the govern- 
ment and the silence of its agents, all public interest 
was directed upon Pius VII., who in the eyes of Eu- 
rope, was considered as an illustrious and affecting vic- 
tim of the greedy ambition of the emperor. A priso- 
ner at Savona, Pius VII. was despoiled of all his exter- 
nal honours, and shut out from all communication with 
the cardinals, as well as deprived of all means of issuing 
bulls and assembling a council. What food for the pe- 
tite egUse, for the turbulence of some priests, and for 
the hatred of some devotees! I immediately foresaw 



236 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

that all these leavens would reproduce the secret asso- 
ciations we had with so much diiiiculty suppressed. In 
fact, Napoleon, by undoing all that he had hitherto 
done to calm and conciliate the minds of the people, 
disposed them in the end to withdraw themselves from 
his power, and even to ally themselves to his enemies, 
as soon as they had the courage to show themselves in 
force. But this extraordinary man had not yet lost any 
of his warlike vigour ; his courage and genius raised him 
above all his errors. My correspondence and bulletins, 
which he received every day at Vienna, did not dis- 
simulate the truth of things, nor the unhappy state of 
the public mind. "A month will change all this," he 
wrote me. — " I am very easy, you are so too" — were 
his very words. I had never accumulated on ray head 
so much power, and so much responsibility. The co- 
lossal ministry of the police, and per interim the portfolio 
of the interior, were both intrusted to me. But I was 
re-assured, for never had the encouragement of the em- 
peror been so positive, nor his confidence greater. I 
was near the apogee of ministerial power; but in poli- 
tics, the apogee often conducts to the Tarpeian rock. 

The horizon underwent a sudden change. The battle 
of Wagram fought and gained, forty-five days after the 
loss of the battle of Essling, the armistice of Znaim 
agreed to six days after the battle of Wagram, and the 
death of Schill, brought us back days of serenity, and 
of fairer promise. 

But, in the interval, the English appeared in Escaut, 
with a formidable expedition, which, had it been more 
ably conducted, might have brought back success to our 
enemies, and given Austria time to rally. 

1 perceived the danger. Invested, during the empe- 
ror''s absence with a great part of his power, by the 
union of the two ministries,|I instilled energy into the coun- 
cil, of which I was the life, and caused it to pass seve- 
ral strong measures. No time Avas to be lost : Belgium 
was to be saved. The disposable troops would not 
have been sufficient to preserve this important part of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 237 

the empire. I caused it to be decreed with the empe- 
ror's concurrence, that at Paris and in several of the 
northern departments, there should be an immediate 
and extraordinary levy of national guards. 

Upon this occasion, I addressed to all the mayors of 
Paris, a circular, containing the following phrase, " Let 
us prove to Europe that if the genius of Napoleon can 
shed lustre around France, his presence is not necessary 
to repel the enemy." 

Who would have believed it ? Both this phrase and 
the measure which preceded it, gave umbrage to Na- 
poleon, who, by a letter addressed to Cambaceres, or- 
dered the levy in Paris to be suspended ; and for the 
present nothing was done but appointing officers. 

I did not at first suspect the real motive of this sus- 
pension for the capital, the more so as elsewhere the 
levy, operating without any obstacle, and with the ut- 
most rapidity, gave us about forty thousand men, ready 
equipped and full of ardour. Nothing could so much 
embarrass the measures I had caused to be adopted, 
and the execution of which I had superintended with 
so much zeal and care. It had been a long time since 
France had given a spectacle of such a burst of patriot- 
ism. During her journey to the waters of Spa, the 
emperor's mother had been so much struck with it, that 
she even congratulated me, herself, upon it. 

But it was necessary to appoint a commander-in-chief 
to this national auxiliary force, which was to rendez- 
vous under the walls of Antwerp : I was in doubt upon 
whom to fix, when Bernadotte unexpectedly arrived 
from Wagram. The very day, when I had scarcely 
heard of his arrival, I proposed him to the minister of 
war, the Duke de Feltre, who lost no time in giving 
him his commission. 

What was my surprise the next day, when Berna- 
dotte informed me, in the overflowings of confidence 
and friendship, that having commanded the left at Wa- 
gram, and the Saxons, who composed part of it, having 
been routed, the emperor, under this pretext, had de- 



238 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

prived him of the command, and sent him back to Pa- 
ris; that his wing had hoAvever behaved well at the 
close of the battle ; but that he had not been less cen- 
sured at head-quarters for having, in an order of the 
day, addressed to his soldiers a kind of commendatory 
proclamation ; that he imputed this new disgrace to 
the malevolent reports made to the emperor ; that ma- 
ny complaints were made of Savary, who was charged 
with the secret police of the array ; that Lannes, after 
having had the most angry and violent scenes with him, 
could alone restrain him ; but that since the death of 
that hero, the influence of Savary had become unlimit- 
ed ; that he watched for opportunities of irritating the 
emperor against certain generals who were the objects 
of his dislike ; that he even proceeded to impute to 
them connexions with the secret society oi the Philadel- 
phians, which he converted into a scarecrow for the em- 
peror, by supposing, upon vague surmises, that it had 
dangerous ramifications in the army. 

For these reasons, Bernadotte testified some repug- 
nance to accept the comaiission of commander-in-chief 
of the national guards of the empire, destined for the 
defence of Antwerp. 1 represented to him that on the 
contrary fhis was the time to re-establish himself in 
the emperor's confidence ; that I had already several 
times contributed to reconcile them, and to do away 
with any misundersta?)ding between them ; that, with 
the high rank he held, if he refused to fulfil the com- 
mission conferred upon him by the minister at war, he 
would appear to assume the air of a discontented per- 
son, and to refuse an opportunity of rendering fresh ser- 
vices to his country ; that in case of need, Ave ought to 
serve the emperor in spite of himself, and that by thus 
doing his duty, he devoted himself to his country. He 
understood me, and, after other confidential communi- 
cations, he set od for Antwerp. 

The success attendant upon this movement is well 
known ; it was general throughout our northern provin- 
ces, and the English dared not attempt a landing. So hap- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 239 



py a result joined to the judicious conduct of Bernadotte 



compelled Napoleon to keep his suspicions and discon- 
tent to himself; but, in reality, he never pardoned ei- 
ther Bernadotte or me for this eminent service, and 
our intimacy became more than ever an object of sus- 
picion with him. 

Other private information which reached me from 
the army perfectly coincided with what I had learnt 
from Bernadotte respecting the Philadelphians, whose 
secret organization commenced during the perpetual 
consulship. The members did not affect secrecy ; their 
object was to restore to France the liberty of which 
Napoleon had deprived it by the re-establishment of 
the nobility, and by his concordat. They regretted 
Bonaparte the first consul, and considered the despot- 
ism of Napoleon as emperor insupportable. The sus- 
pected existence of this association had already caused 
the arrest and continued detention of Mallet, Guidal, 
Gindre, Picquerel, and Lahorie ; more recently, the 
brave Oudet, colonel of the ninth regiment of the line, 
was suspected of having been raised to the presidency 
of the Philadelphians. A vile accusation having desig- 
nated him as such, the fate of this unfortunate officer 
was as follows : — 

Having been appointed on the day preceding the 
battle of Wagram chief of brigade, he was the evening 
after the action decoyed during the darkness of the 
night into an ambuscade, where he fell under the fire 
of a troop supposed to be gens d^armes ; the following 
day he was found stretched out lifeless, with twenty- 
two officers of his party killed around him. This cir- 
cumstance made much noise at Schcenbrunn, at Vienna, 
and at all the etats majors of the army, without, how- 
ever, any means of fathoming so horrible a mystery. 

Since the armistice, however, difficulties were being 
slowly removed ; the ratification of the new treaty of 
peace with Austria did not arrive ; but every letter re- 
presented it as certain. We were expecting to receive 
momentary intelli2:ence of its conclusion, when I learnt 



240 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

that the emperor, while reviewing his guard at Schceii- 
brunn, had narrowly escaped the dagger of an assassin. 
Rapp had just time to seize him, Berthier having 
thrown himself before the emperor. He was a young 
man of Erfurt, hardly seventeen years of age, and sole- 
ly excited by patriotic fanaticism ; a long sharp knife 
was found upon him, with which he intended to execute 
his purpose. He confessed his design, and was shot. 

The treaty of Vienna was signed a few days after 
(the 15th of October); Napoleon, the conqueror and 
pacificator, returned almost immediately to his capital. 
It was from his own mouth that we learnt what serious 
difficulties he had had to surmoupt, and how determin- 
ed and strong had been the opposition of Austria. 

I had several conferences with Napoleon at Fontain- 
bleau before his entry into Paris, and I found him much 
exasperated against the Faubourg St. Germain, which 
had resumed its satirical and sarcastic habits. I could 
not avoid informing the emperor, that after the battle 
of Essling, as after the Bayonne affair, the wits of the 
Faubourg had spread the ridiculous report that he had 
been struck with mental alienation. Napoleon was ex- 
tremely incensed at this, and he spoke to me of adopt- 
ing severe measures with creatures, " who," said he, 
*' wound me with one hand, and solicit with the other." 
I dissuaded him from it. " It is proverbial," said I to 
him, " the Seine flows ; the Faubourg intrigues, solicits, 
spends, and calumniates ; it is in the nature of things ; 
who has been more slandered than Julius C^sar ? I 
will, besides, assure your Majesty, that among this par- 
tv there will be no Cassius or Brutus found. On the 
other hand, do not the worst reports proceed from 
your Majesty's ante-chambers ? are they not propaga- 
ted by persons forming part of your establishment and 
of your government ? Before measures of severity 
could be adopted, a council of ten must be appointed ; 
the doors, the walls, and the chimneys, must be inter- 
rogated. It is the part of a great man to despise the 
gabble of insolence, and to stifle it under a mass of glo- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 241 

ry and renown." He acquiesced. I knew that, after 
the battle of Wagram, he had hesitated whether he 
should dismember the Austrian monarchy ; that he had 
several plans upon this subject ; that he had even boast- 
ed he would soon distribute crowns to some of the arch- 
dukes whom he supposed discontented, or blinded by 
ambition ; but that, arrested by the fear of awakening 
the suspicions of Russia, and of raising the people of 
Austria, whose affection for Francis II. could not be 
called in question, he had had time to appreciate another 
difficulty in the execution of his plan. It required the 
military occupation of the whole of Germany ; which 
would not have permitted him to put an end to the 
peninsular war, which now claimed all his attention. 

The moment appeared to me favourable to make 
him acquainted with the whole truth. I represented 
to him, in a confidential report upon our actual situa- 
tion, how necessary it had become to put a stop to a 
system of policy which tended to estrange from us the 
people ; and I first entreated him to accomplish the 
Avork of peace, either by sounding England, or offering 
her reasonable propositions; adding, that he had never 
been in a better situation to make himself listened to j 
that nothing equalled the power of his arms, and that 
now there was no longer any doubt respecting the firm- 
ness of his connexions with the two most powerful po- 
tentates of Europe next himself; that by showing him- 
self moderate in his demands with respect to Portugal, 
and disposed, on the other hand, to evacuate Prussia, 
he could not fail to obtain peace, and secure his dynas- 
ty in Italy, Madrid, Westphalia, and Holland ;» that 
these should be the limits of his ambition and of a last- 
ing glory ; that it was already a splendid destiny to 
have re-created the empire of Charlemagne, but that it 
became necessary to give this empire guarantees for the 
future ; that, for this purpose, it became urgent, as I 
had before represented to him, to dissolve his marriage 
with Josephine, and to form another union, demanded 
by state reasons, as much as by the most important po- 
31 



242 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

litical considerations, for, in seeing himself renewed, 
he, at the same time, insured existence to the empire ; 
that it was for him alone to determine whether it 
would be preferable to form a family alliance with one 
of the two great northern courts, either Russia or Aus- 
tria, or to isolate himself in his power, and honour his 
own country by sharing the diadem with a French 
woman rich in her fecundity and her virtues. But that 
the plan suggested by the want of social stability and 
monarchical permanence, would be destroyed to its 
foundations if rtot supported by a general peace ; that 
I insisted strongly upon this point, begging him to let 
me know his intentions upon the two principal views of 
my report and my conclusions. 

I only obtained a tacit assent, the only answer I had 
been accustomed to hope for upon serious subjects, 
which were considered out of my province. But I 
saw that the dissolution of the marriage was settled for 
no very distant period, Cambaceres having been au- 
thorized to confer with me respecting it. 1 instantly 
had the rumour set a-foot in the saloons, and it was 
every where whispered that Josephine, plunged in se- 
curity, had not the least hint of it, so much was she ad- 
mired and pitied. 

I also perceived that the emperor, whether from 
pride or poHcy, was inclined to unite himself to one ol 
the old courts of Europe, and that the previous divorce 
was intended to induce them to make overtures, or pre- 
pare them to receive them. 

The show of power was not however neglected. 
Napoleon, having in absolute dependance upon himself 
the kings whom he had made, sent for them to his 
court ; and on the third of December, required them 
to be present in the metropolitan church to hear Tc 
Deum sung in commemoration of his victories, and of 
the anniversary of his coronation. 

Upon quitting Notre Dame, he proceeded to open 
the sittings of the legislative corps ; there, in a pre- 
sumptuous speech, he expressed himself in these terras. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 243 

" When I shall appear on the other side of the Py- 
renees, the frighted leopard shall seek the ocean to 
avoid shame, defeat, and death." 

It was with these lofty images he endeavoured to 
palliate the difficulties of the Spanish war, deceiving 
himself, perhaps ; for, with regard to this contest, he 
had never had but very incorrect ideas. 

The next day, during a tete-d-tete dinner with Jose- 
phine, he informed her of his resolution. Josephine 
fainted away. It required all the rhetoric of Cam- 
baceres, and all the tenderness of her son Eugene, 
both to calm her transports, and dispose her to resig- 
nation. 

On the 15th of December, the dissolution of the mar- 
riage was proceeded in according to the form ; and all 
being adjusted, an officer of the guard was commission- 
ed to escort Josephine to Malmaison, whilst the em- 
peror on his side went to the grand Trianon to pass a 
lew days there in retirement. The chancery was now 
fully instructed to open a parallel negotiation with the 
two courts of Saint Petersburgh and Vienna ; in the 
first, the grand duchess, sister to the Czar, was the de- 
sired object; and in Austria, the arch-duchess Maria 
Louisa, daughter of the Emperor Francis. Russia was 
first sounded. It was said, that in the council the Em- 
peror Alexander was favourable to the union, but that 
there was a difference of opinion in the imperial Rus- 
sian family. 

That which took place at Vienna, almost simulta- 
neously, deserves the mention of a few preliminaries to 
which I was not altogether a stranger. 

One of the foremost men in the annals of politeness 
and gallantry at the court of Louis XVI., was undoubt- 
edly Count Louis de Narbonne. Some persons had 
been pleased to increase his celebrity by deducting from 
the striking resemblance of his features to Louis XVI., 
an inference implying some great mystery as to his 
birth. He had also himself laboured to add to his 
reputation by his perfect amiability of disposition, his 



244 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

intimate liaison with the most extraordinary woman of 
the age, Madame de Stael, and, in short, by the easy 
and courteous manner in which he exercised in the 
war department, a constitutional ministry in the decline 
of the monarchy. Forced to emigrate, and exposed to 
the shafts of the ultra republicans, and the ultra royal- 
ists, he was at first neglected upon his re-entering 
France ; at a later period, however, I gave him a re- 
ception full of that warmth with which the patriots of 
1789, who had a wish to conciliate royalty with liberty, 
had inspired me. To accomplished manners he joined 
a brilliant and ready wit, and often even a correctness 
and depth of observation. At length he was with me 
daily ; and such was the charm of his conversation, that 
it afforded me, in the midst of the most fatiguing la- 
bours, the sweetest relaxation. All that M. de Nar- 
bonne requested of me on behalf of his friends and con- 
nexions, I granted him. I spoke of him to the em- 
peror ; I had some difficulty in overcoming his repug- 
nance to him; he was mistrustful of his former con- 
nexion with Madame de Stael, whom Napoleon regarded 
as an implacable enemy. I however persisted, and the 
emperor at length allowed him to be presented. Napo- 
leon was immediately struck with him, and first attach- 
ed him to his person as oflcier d'ordonnance. General 
Narbonne followed him in the campaign of Austria, dur- 
ing which he was appointed governor of Trieste, with 
a political mission, of which I had intelligence. 

Upon the emperor's return, and when the affair of 
the marriage was brought on the tofis, I named him as 
the fittest person for adroitly sounding the intentions 
of the court of Austria. It would have been contrary 
to all propriety and custom for Napoleon to have taken 
any decided step, before positively ascertaining the de- 
termination of the Emperor Alexander ; therefore, the 
instructions delivered to the Count de Narbonne merely 
authorized him to act in his own name, and, as a pri- 
vate individual, with all the delicacy and ability requi- 
site in an affair of such high importance. He arrived 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 243 

at Vienna in the month of January, (1810.) his only 
apparent object being to pass through it on his way to 
return to France through Germany. There, opening 
his batteries, he first saw M. de Metternich, and was 
afterwards introduced to the Emperor Francis. 

The question of the marriage, at that time, interest- 
ed all Europe, and naturally became one of the sub- 
jects of his conversation with the Emperor of Austria. 
M. de Narbonne did not fail to observe, that the great- 
est sovereigns of Europe courted the alliance of Na- 
poleon. The Emperor of Austria immediately express- 
ed his surprise that the court of the Tuiieries had over- 
looked his family, and he said sufficient for M. de Nar- 
bonne to know what he had to depend upon. He 
wrote to me the same day, and in communicating to me 
the hints of the court of Vienna, said, that he thought 
he might conclude from them, that an alliance with an 
archduchess would enter into the views of Austria. 
Upon the arrival of the courier, I immediately hasten- 
ed to communicate his despatch to the emperor. I 
never saw him so joyous and happy. He caused Prince 
Schwartzenberg, the Austrian ambassador, to be sound- 
ed ; directing that this delicate negotiation should be 
conducted with such circumspection, that the ambas- 
sador should find himself compromised before he was 
aware of it. The object was, not to oifend the Em- 
peror Alexander by giving him room to suspect that a 
double negotiation had been set on foot, and at the same 
time, of making all Europe suppose that the emperor 
had had the choice of a grand duchess and an arch- 
duchess ; ^s to the princess of Saxony that was a mere 
matter of form. 

On the 1st of February, Napoleon summoned at the 
Tuiieries a grand privy council, composed of the high 
dignitaries, great officers, all the ministers, the presidents 
of the senate, and the legislative corps, and those of the 
sections of the council of state. We were in all twen- 
ty-five persons. The council being assembled, and the 
deliberations begun, the minister Champagny first com- 



246 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

municated the despatches of Caulaincourt, our ambassa- 
dor in Russia. From his representation, it appeared, 
that the marriage with a Russian princess solely de- 
pended upon our allowing her the public exercise of her 
worship, and permitting for her use the erection of a 
chapel of the Greek ritual. He then made known the 
hints and desires of the court of Vienna : thus embar- 
rassment of choice seemed the only difficulty. Opinions 
■were divided. As I was in the secret, I abstained from 
giving mine ; and purposely withdrew before the end 
of the deliberation. Upon the council breaking up, 
Prince Eugene was commissioned by the emperor to 
make formal overtures to the Prince of Schwartzen- 
berg. The ambassador h<id received his instructions, 
and all was arranged without the least difficulty. 

Thus Napoleon's marriage with Maria Louisa was 
proposed, discussed, determined upon in council, and 
stipulated within twenty-four hours. 

The day after the iiolding of the council, a senator, 
one of my friends, always m fait at news,* came to in- 
form me that the emperor had decided upon an arch- 
duchess ; I affected surprise, and at the same time re- 
gret that a Russian princess had not been chosen. " If 
this be the case," cried I, " I must pack up !" availing 
myself thus of a pretext to give my friends a hint of my 
approaching disgrace. 

Gifted with what is called tact, I had a secret pre- 
sentiment that my ministerial power would not long sur- 
vive the new order of things, which would, doubtless, 
affect a change in the habits and character of Napoleon. 
I did not in the least doubt that, having become the 
ally of the house of Lorraine, and believing himself 
henceforth certain of the cabinet of Austria, and conse- 
quently of having it in his power to subject ancient Eu- 
rope to his will, he would think himself in a situation 

* A recueil of anecdotes, in which this circumstance is related, 
mentions M. de Semonville as the person; but Fouche suppresses- 
the name. — Note of the Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 247 

to get rid of his minister of police, as had ah'eady been 
the case after the peace of Amiens. 1 was also firnaly 
convinced that he would never pardon my having of 
myself raised an army, forced the English tore-embark, 
and saved Belgium ; I knew, in fact, that since that time 
my intimacy with Bernadotte had been an object of sus- 
picion with him. The more he indulged within himself 
dispositions inimical to me, the more was I persuaded of 
their existence. They discovered themselves, upon my 
proposing to him to set at liberty, on the approaching 
occasion of the celebration of his nuptials, a part of the 
prisoners of state, at the same time relieving others 
from surveillance. Instead of complying with my wish, 
he exclaimed with an affectation of humanity against 
the deplorable despotism exercised by the police, tell- 
ing me that he thought of putting an end to it. Two 
days afterwards he sent me the sketch of a report, 
drawn up in my name, and of an imperial decree, which, 
instead of one state prison, established six ;* ordering 
besides that henceforth no one could be arrested but in 
virtue of a decision of the privy council. This was a 
bitter scoff, the privy council being nothing else than 
the will of the emperor. The whole was so artfully 
managed that 1 was compelled to present the project 
to the council of state, where it was discussed and final- 
ly adopted on the 3d of March. In this manner did 
Napoleon elude putting an end to illegal arrest, and 
throw upon the police all the odium of arbitrary deten- 
tions. He also obliged me to give him a list of indivi- 
duals under surveillance. Surveillance was a very mild 
police measure, which I had invented merely to relieve 
from the severities of arbitrary detention the numerous 
victims daily hunted down by hired accusers, whom I 
had great difficulty to keep within any bounds. This 
odious and secret militia was inherent in a system rais- 
ed and maintained by the most suspicious and mistrust- 

* Vincennes, Saumur, Ham, Landskaone, Pierre-Chatel, and Fe- 
Bcstrelle. — jYote of the Editor. 



248 BIEMOmS OF FOUCHE. 

ful man that perhaps ever existed. It was a state 
wound. I had sometimes the weakness to imagine that 
this once firmly established and at ease, Napoleon would 
adopt a system of government more paternal, and, at 
the same time, more conformable to our manners. 
Under this point of view, the marriage with an arch- 
duchess gave me hopes ; but I felt more and more that 
the sanction of a general peace was indispensable. Could 
I not myself contribute to this peace, as I had co-ope- 
rated by my impulse to the dissolution of a sterile con- 
nexion and to tbe alliance with Austria? If I succeed- 
ed in this object, I might, from the importance of such 
a service, triumph over the prejudices of the emperor, 
and reconquer his confidence. But England was first 
to be sounded ; I had the less hesitation, from the 
change which had taken place in the composition of the 
English ministry having given me some just grounds of 
hope. 

The ill-success of the greater part of its operations 
in this last campaign had excited the displeasure of the 
English nation, and produced serious dissensions among 
the ministers. Two among them, Lord Castlereagh 
and Mr. Canning, had even gone so far as to fight a 
duel, after having sent in their resignations. The cabi- 
net had hastened to recal from the Spanish embassy 
the Marquess Wellesley, to succeed Mr. Canning in the 
place of secretary of state for foreign affairs ; and to 
place at the head of the war-department Earl Liver- 
pool, formerly Lord Hawkesbury. I knew that these 
two ministers indulged lofty but conciliatory views. 
Besides, the cause of Spanish independence being almost 
desperate, in consequence of the victory of Ocanna and 
the occupation of Andalusia, I imagined that I should 
find Marquess Wellesley more open^to reasonable over- 
tures ; I therefore determined to reconnoitre the ground, 
and that in virtue of the powers which I had frequently 
used, of sending agents abroad. 

In this mission I employed M. Ouvrard, for two rea- 
sons : first, because a political overture at London could 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 249 

scarcely be begun but under the mask of commercial 
operations; and next, because it was impossible to em- 
ploy in so delicate an affair, a man more broken in to 
business, or of a more insinuating and persuasive a cha- 
racter. But, as M. Ouvrard could not, without incon- 
venience, enter into direct relations with Marquess Wel- 
lesley, I associated with him M. Fagan, an old Irish 
officer, who, being intrusted with the first despatches, 
was to open to him, so to speak, the way to the British 
minister. 

I determined that M. Ouvrard should not set off till 
after the celebration of the marriage. The entry of 
the young archduchess into Paris took place on the 1st 
of April; nothing could be more magnificent or more 
interesting. The day was beautiful! The expression of 
joy from the prodigious crowds assembled were raptu- 
rous. The court immediately set off for St. Cloud, where 
the civil act was gone through, and the next day the 
nuptial benediction was given to Napoleon and Maria 
Louisa, in one of the saloons of the Louvre, amid num- 
bers of ladies sparkling with jewels and magnificent at- 
tire. The fetes were splendid. But that which was 
given by Prince Schwartzenberg, in the name of his mas- 
ter, offered a sinister omen. The dancing-room, built in 
the garden of his hotel, took fire, and, in an instant, the 
saloon was in a blaze ; many persons perished, among 
others, the princess of Schwartzenberg, wife to the am- 
bassador's brother. The unfortunate conclusion of this 
fete, given to celebrate the alliance of two nations, did 
not fail to be compared to the catastrophe which had 
marked the fetes on occasion of the marriage of 
Louis XVI., and Maria Antoinette ; the most unfortu- 
nate presages were drawn from it. Napoleon himself 
was struck with it. As I had given the prefecture all 
the requisite orders, and as that office had been specially 
charged with this part of the public surveillance^ it was 
upon that, or at least upon the prefect of police, that 
the emperor's resentment fell. He disgraced Dubois ; 
and, unfortunately, a public disaster was necessary te 
32 



250 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

remove a man who had so often misdirected the moral 
end of the pohce. At court, and in the city, the order 
of the day was henceforth to please the young empress ; 
who, without a rival, captivated Napoleon. 'w|^|ij!|au^ 
even on his side a kind of childishness. I kn^ew that""' 
an opportunity was being sought of finding fault with 
the police, touching the sale of certain works upon the 
revolution, which might have hurt the empress. I 
gave orders for their seizure ;* but such was the cupidity 
of the agents of the prefecture, that these very works 
were clandestinely sold by those even whose duty it was 
to send them to the mill. Towards the end of April, 
the emperor sat off with the empress to visit Middle- 
bourg and Flessingue ; he also went to Breda. This 
journey was fatal to me. The emperor, struck with 
my reflections upon the necessity of a general peace, 
bad endeavoured, without my knowledge, to open secret 
negotiations Avith the new English minister, through 
the medium of a commercial house at Amsterdam. 
From this resulted a double negotiation and double 
pi'opositions, ^which surprised Marquess Wellesley ex- 
tremely. Both the emperor's agents and mine being 

* The police, in virtue of an order from the Duke of Otranto, 
made the most severe search, forbade and seized all works upon tlie 
revolution which were written with a bias towards royally. The 
editor of Irma, having puldished a large portion of those works 
which recalled to the memory of the French the royal family of 
the Bourbons, was the chief object of the inquisitorial visits of the 
police. Thus, this last search in hi? warehouses continued for two 
days; almost all his books were confiscated, he was himself seized 
and conducted to the prefecture. One work only was partly the 
cause of this excessive severity ; it had been published a long time ; 
it was the history of the iniquitous trials of Louis XVI., ihe Queen, 
Madame Elizabeth, and the Duke of Orleans. The work contained 
passages of the highest importance, such as secret interrogatories, 
secret declarations, decrees, and other unknown pieces, extracted 
from the journals of the revolutionary tribunals, and which had 
never seen the light. This work alone cost the editor more than 
thirty domiciliary visits without their being ever able to seize the 
entire edition; only some isolated copies being taken. In spite of 
all these searches and visits, the work was constantly sold, and 
people hid theaiselves to read it. — ^"0(0 of ihe Editor, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 251 

equally suspected, met with a similar refusal. The 
emperor, surprised at so sudden and unexpected a con- 
clusion, in order to discover the cause, employed his 
foreign agents and counter-police. At first, he had only 
vague informations ; but he was soon enabled to judge 
that his negotiation had been crossed by other agents, 
whose mission he was unacquainted with. His suspi- 
cions at first fell on M. de Talleyrand ; but, upon his 
return, having received fresh information, he discovered 
that M. Ouvrard had made overtures, drawn up with- 
out his knowledge, to Marquis Wellesley ; and, as M. 
Ouvrard was known to be connected with me, it was 
inferred that I had given him his instructions. On the 
2d of June, being at St. Cloud, the emperor asked me 
in full council, what M. Ouvrard had gone to England 
for? " To ascertain for me the sentiments of the new 
ministry relative to peace, in conformity to the idea I 
had the honour to submit to your Majestj before your 
marriage." — "So," replied the emperor, "you make 
war and peace without my being a party." He left us, 
and gave orders to Savary to arrest M. Ouvrard, and 
to conduct him to Vincennes ; at the same time, 1 was 
forbidden to have any communication with the prisoner. 
The next day, the portfolio of the police was given to 
Savary. It was this time a real disgrace. 

I should certainly have made a prediction rather 
premature, by recalling the words of the prophet : 
" In forty days, Nineveh shall be destroyed ;" but 1 
might have predicted, with confidence, that in less than 
four years the empire of Napoleon would no longer 
exist. 

I impose upon myself a great and weighty task, in 
again offering myself to all the severity of a public 
investigation ; but i impose it on myself as a duty to 
destroy the prejudices of party spirit, and the impres- 
sions of hatred. I have, however, little hope that the 
voice of reason will have strength enough to make itself 
heard in the midst of the clamours of the two exacer- 



252 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

bated factions, which divide the political world. No 
matter ; it is not for the present moment that I write, 
but for the sake of a more tranquil period. As to what 
concerns the present, let my destiny be accomplished ! 
And what a destiny, just heaven, has that been ! Of so 
much greatness and of so enormous a power, a power 
which I never abused, except for the purpose of avoid- 
ing still greater evils, what vestige now remains ? That 
which I least prize, that which I accumulated for others, 
indeed remains ; and remains to an individual, who, un- 
actuated by artificial events, could have dispensed with 
wealth altogether ; to one, who carried with him into 
the splendid circle of office the moderation of a philo- 
sopher and the sobriety of a hermit. By turns predo- 
minant, dreaded or disgraced, it is true I sought for 
authority, but I detested oppression. How many ser- 
vices have I not rendered ? How many tears have I 
not dried up ? Dare, if you can, to deny it, ye, whose 
united suffrages I concentred in my own person, not- 
withstanding the melancholy events which had so re- 
cently passed ! Did I not become your protector, your 
saviour against your own resentments, and against the 
impetuous passions of the chief of the state ? I confess 
that there never was a more despotic police than that 
whose sceptre I grasped; but will you not also admit 
that there never was a more protecting police under a 
military government ; more adverse to violence ; more 
gentle in the means by which it pervaded the secret 
recesses of domestic life, and the operation of which 
was less obnoxiously obvious ? Will you not, therefore, 
admit, that the Duke of Otranto was beyond a doubt 
the most skilful and the most moderate of all Napoleon's 
ministers ? I know that, at the present, you hold a 
different lans^uage — for this sole reason, that times have 
changed. You judge the past by the present ; that is 
not my mode of judging. I have committed errors — 
that I grant ; but the good I have done ought to be 
counterpoised in the other scale. Plunged in the chaos 
of public favours, occupied with the unravelling of all 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 253 

kinds of Intrigues, I took pleasure in calming hostilities, 
in extinguishing passions, and concihating men. It was 
with a degree of luxury that I sometimes tasted repose 
at the pure spring of my domestic affections, which, in 
their turn, did not escape from toeing poisoned at their 
source. During my recent humihations, and during my 
great misfortunes, can I forget that I was once the 
supporter and supervisor of an immense empire ; that 
my disapprobation only endangered its subsistence ; and 
that it ran the risk of tumbhng to pieces whenever I 
withdrew my sustaining hand? Can I forget, that if by 
the eifect of a great re-action, and of a revolution which 
I foresaw, I again re-possessed myself of the scattered 
elements of so much greatness and power, that the 
whole vanished like a dream ? Yet, nevertheless, I was 
considered as far superior, in consequence of my long 
experience — I may add, perhaps, of my sagacity — to all 
those, who, during the catastrophe, suffered the power 
to escape. 

At the present moment, when undeceived upon all 
points, I look down from a superior region upon all the 
miseries and fallacious splendours of greatness, when I 
no longer contend for any object but the justification of 
my political intentions, I recognise too late the extent of 
the gulf between the contrary parties who struggle for 
the government of the universe. I see and feel that 
a more powerful First Mover modifies and guides them, 
with an entire contempt of the profoundest of our cal- 
culations. 

It is, nevertheless, but too true, that the wounds of 
ambition are incurable. In spite of my reason, and in 
spite of myself, I am hunted by the delusive chimeras 
of power, by the phantoms of vanity ; I feel myself 
dragged down towards them, as Ixion was riveted to 
his wheel. A deep and painful reminiscence weighs 
upon ray mind. 

And will it be said that I refrain from exhibiting all 
my weaknesses, all my errors, and all my repentances ? 
A confession like this, I should think, is a sufficient 



254 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

pledge of the sincerity of raj revelations. That pledge 
I owed to the importance of this second part of the 
memoirs of my political life ; I am thus irrevocably 
placed under the rigorous obligations of retracing all its 
peculiarities, of unfolding all its secret mysteries. This 
is my last labour. I shall, hovi'ever, experience some 
compensating enjoyment in the charms of reflection, and 
in the fragrance of a certain number of recollections: 
this pleasure J. huve experienced in my first narrative. 

In preparing these memoirs, one consoling idea has 
never abandoned me. I shall not entirely descend into 
the grave, — perhaps, I said to myself, into that grave 
which already yawns to receive me at the termination 
of my exile. I cannot dissemble it from myself. Hov^'- 
ever I may elude the decay of my spirit, 1 have but too 
strong conviction of the decay of my bodily strength. 
Urged as I am to haste, by the pursuing footsteps of 
destiny, let me proceed with a perfect feeling of since- 
rity to recapitulate the events which passed between 
my disgrace in 1810 and my I'all in 1815. This division 
of the subject is the most serious and the most thorny 
of all my political confessions. How many incidents, 
how many mighty interests, how many conspicuous 
characters, how many acts of turpitude, are associated 
with the last act of a transitory power ! But fear 
nothing, enemies or friends; it is not the police which 
here denounces — -it is history which reveals. 

Pretending, as I do, to raise myself above the influ- 
ence of e\ery description of frivolous compromise, 1 am 
not less resolved to place mvself beyond the atmosphere 
of satire and libel, as well as of hypocrisy and false- 
hood ; that which is disoracefu! 1 will disgrace, that 
which is respectable I will respect. In a word, I will 
grasp my pen with an unshaken hand ; and, in order 
that it may not deviate, I will never lose sight of the 
synchronism of public events. 

From tbese preliminaries, intended to awaken atten- 
tion, and stimulate reflection, I am about to pass to the 
recital of facts which confirm, of details which reveal, of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 255 

traits which characterize. The result will, I persuade 
myself, be a picture, which may be named if the reader 
pleases, either a history, or materials for its compo- 
sition. 

At the end of the first of these memoirs will be found 
the discursive point of my history ; it is distinguished 
by the event of my disgrace, which transferred the 
porte feuille of the superior state police into the hands 
of Savary. It must be borne in mind that the empire 
was then in the zenith of its power, and that its mihtary 
limits had no longer any bounds. Possessor of Germa- 
ny, master of Italy, absolute disposer of France, invader 
of Spain, Napoleon was, moreover, the ally of the Cae- 
sars, and of the autocrat of the north. So dazzling was 
the halo of his power, that the ulcer of the Spanish 
war, which was gnawing the vitals of the empire in the 
south, attracted little notice. Everywhere else. Napo- 
leon had only to desire, in order to obtain. All moral 
counterpoise had disappeared from his government. 
Every thing gave way; his agents, his functionaries, his 
dignitaries, exhibited nothing but a group of Batterers 
and mutes, anxious to catch the least sign of his deci- 
sions. In short, he had just dismissed, in me, the only 
individual of his council who would have dared to re- 
strain his successive encroachments ; in me he kept 
aloof a zealous and watchful minister, who never spared 
him useful admonition, nor courageous reproof. 

An imperial decree constituted me governor-general 
of Rome.* But I never, for a single moment, thought 
that it was the emperor's wish that 1 should exercise so 
important a trust. This nomination was nothing but 

* Letter of the Emperor to M. the Duke of Otranto. 

Monsieur, the Duke of Otranto, ^ 

The services which you have rendered us in the difficult cir- 
cumstances which have occurred, induce us to conlide to you the 
government of Rome, until we have provided for the execution of 
article eight of the act of the constitution of the 17th of last Februa- 
ry. We have determined, by a special decree, the extraordinary 
povvers with which the particular ciixumstances in which that de- 
partment is at present placed require that you should be invested. 



256 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

an honourable veil, woven by his policy, in order to 
conceal and soften down to the public eye the too glar- 
ing intensity of my disgrace, in the secret of which his 
intimates alone Avere. I could not be mistaken ; the 
mere choice of my successor was in itself a frightful in- 
dication. In each saloon, in every family, in short 
throughout Paris, there was a general horror manifest- 
ed at seeing the general police of the empire thence- 
forth confounded with the military police of the chief 
magistrate ; and, moreover, given up to the fanatical 
subserviency of a man who made it his chief honour to 
execute the secret orders of his master. His name 
alone created an universal mistrust, a kind of stupor, 
the impression of which, perhaps, may have been mag- 
nified out of due proportion. 

1 no longer communicated, except under extreme 
precaution, with my intimate friends and private agents. 

We expect that you will continue in your new post, to give us 
proofs of your zeal for our service and attachment for our person. 

This letter having no other object, we pray God, M. the Duke of 
Otranto, to take you into his holy keeping. 

(Signed) NAPOLEON. 

St. Cloud, the od of June, 1810. 

Letter of the Minister of General Police to S. Jlf., /., and R. 

Sire, 

I accept the government of Rome to which Your Majesty has 
had the goodness to raise me, as a recompense for the humble ser- 
vices which I have been so fortunate as to perform. 

I must not however dissemble, that 1 experienced a very poign- 
ant regret in quitting your majesty ; I lose at once the happiness 
and the information which I daily derived from your communica- 
tions. 

If any thing can mitigate that regret, it is the reflection that I 
furnish under the circumstances, by my absolute resignation to the 
will of your majesty, the strongest testimony of my boundless de- 
votion to your person. 

I am, with the most profound respect, 
Sire, 
Your majesty's very humble and 
Most obedient servant, and 

Faithful subject, 
(Signed) DUKE of OTRANTO. 

Paris, June 3, 1810. — JYote by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 257 

I soon obtained confirmation of all I had foreseen. Dur- 
ing several days, my wife's apartments were never free 
from distinguished visits, carefully masked under the 
appearance of congratulation on the subject of the im- 
peria4 decree which raised me to the government-gene- 
ral of Rome. I received the confidential testimonies of 
crowds of exalted personages, who, while signifying* 
their regrets, assured me that my retreat would carry 
with it the disapprobation of all such men as were 
most esteemed for their influence or rank in society. 

" We are not indeed satisfied," said they, " whether 
the regret of the Faubourg Saint Germain be not, at 
least, as deep as that displayed by the multitude of 
conspicuous characters, who feel an interest in the in- 
terests of the revolution." Testimonials of this kind^ 
offered to a fallen minister, are neither suspicious nor 
doubtful. 

It was necessary for me, in consequence of my posi- 
tion, and the claims of decorum, to put up with the an- 
noyance of acting in the character of Savary's mentor, 
during the dehut of his ministerial noviciate. It will be 
readily understood, that I did not push ray politeness so 
far as to initiate him in the upper mysteries of the po- 
litical police ; I took care not to give him a key, which 
might one day contribute to our common safety. Nei- 
ther did I initiate him in the tolerably difficult art of 
arranging the secret bulletin, the conception, and often 
the digest of which was properly reserved for the mi- 
nister alone. The wretched amount of Savary's ex- 
perience in this walk was already known to me ; I had 
previously obtained, without his being aware of it, copies 
of the bulletins of his counter-police. What villanies 
did they not contain ! To confess the truth, 1 was so 
perplexed by his perpetual questions, and stupid self- 
sufficiency, that 1 amused myself with telling him old 
women's tales.* 

* It was, doubtless, this circumstance, which since occasioned the 
Duke de Rovigo, in referring to Fouch6, to say, " That personage 

33 



25S MEMOIRS OP FOUCHE. 

By way of amends, I assumed the air of instructing 
him in the forms, the customs, and the traditions of the 
office ; I particularly magnified the profound views of 
the three counsellors of state, who, under his direction, 
were about to search all the recesses of the administra- 
tive police, by quartering France among them. He was 
quite dazzled with the measure. I introduced, and 
frankly recommended to him the chief agents and mis- 
sionaries whom I had previously had under my orders; 
the only one whom he accepted was the treasurer, 
a little round personage, and the little inquisitor, Des- 
marets, on whom I never placed any reliance. This 
latter individual, endowed with a certain degree of 
tact, had instinctively bowed his body towards the ris- 
ing sun. To Savary he made a complete stalking-horse. 

Nothing in the world was ever more ludicrous than 
to see this military minister giving his audiences, spelling 
the list of the solicitors, got up by his huissiers of the 
ante-chamber, with notes by Desmarets under his eye ; 
the latter constituted guide-ane for promises and refu- 
sals, which were almost always accompanied by oaths 
or invectives. 1 had never failed to tell him that I had 
disobliged the emperor by being trop hon ; and that he, 
in order with more efficacy to watch over his master's 
valuable days, ought to show himself as replete with in- 
docility as possible.* Puffisd up by an insolent self-con- 
ceit, he affected, from the first moment of his accession 
to office, to imitate his master in his frequent fits of pas- 
sion, and his broken and incoherent phrases. He con- 
sidered that there was nothing of any utility in the en- 
tire police, but secret reports, espionnage, and the money 

made us believe a great deal." It must be, however, understood 
that this phrase, as we have heard it quoted in society, comprises 
all the members of the Imperial government. — JVote by the French 
Editor. 

* This would be going much too far for any other individual but 
Fouche ; by nature revengeful, and indulging towards the Duke de 
Rovigo a hatred, the evidences of which he suffers too conspicuous- 
ly to transpire. — .JVofe by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 259 

chest. I had the happiness of beholding him in the 
midst of his bouncing fits, as well as of his milder mood, 
on the day when I put in his hands the agreeable com- 
putation of all the budgets which were merged in the 
private chest ; it appeared to him like a new wonder- 
lul lamp. 

I was in positive torture till I got rid of this minis- 
terial pedagcgueship ; but on the other hand I resorted 
to pretexts, in order to prolong my stay at Paris. Os- 
tensibly, I carried on my preparations for my departure 
for Rome, as if I had never for a moment doubted that 
I was about to be installed there. The whole of my 
household was arranged upon the scale of a governor- 
generalship, and even my equipages were superinscribed 
in large characters, ^'Equipages of the Governor-general 
ofRome.^^ Being duly apprized that all my proceed- 
ings were watched, I employed more care in the ar- 
rangement of trifles such as these. 

At length, receiving neither decision nor instructions 
from court, I requested Berthier to obtain my audience 
of leave from the emperor. The only reply 1 could 
get was that the emperor had not appointed a day for 
my audience, and that it would be prudent, in conse- 
quence of the popular gossip, for me to go to my coun- 
try-seat, and there await the orders that would be im- 
mediately sent me. I accordingly went to my chateau 
de Ferrieres* but not without indulging in the venial ma- 
lice of causing it to be inserted in the Paris journals by 

* The chateau de FerrUres is distant about three quarters of a league 
from the estate of Pont Carre, emigrant landed property, about six 
leagues from Paris, which Fouche had acquired from the state, but for 
which it is asserted that he had paid the full value to Ihe proprietor. 
The chdteau of Pont Carre being then in a dilapidated state, it would 
seem that Fouche caused it to be demolished, and devoted its site 
to pasture land. Ferrieres and Pont Carre, united with immense 
wooded estates, which are now attached to them, constitute, accord- 
ing to report, one of the most magnificent domains in the kingdom ; 
it comprises an extent of four leagues. It was to the chateau de 
Ferriires that Fouche retired immediately after his disgrace, and 
subsequently after his return from his senatorship at Aix, as will be 
seen in the progress of these Memoirs. — J^ote hy the French Editor. 



3t)0 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

a circuitous means, that I was departed for my new go- 
vernment.* 

In mj last interview with Berthier, I had not found 
much difficuhy in detecting the emperor's inchnations to- 
wards me ; 1 perceived how impatient he was at find- 
ing pubhc opinion decidedly pronounced against my dis- 
missal, and as strongly declared against my successor. 
Nothing was now recognised in the functions of police 
but a pro-consulship and a gens d'armerie. All these 
indications confirmed me in the opinion that I should 
with great difficulty escape the consequences of an 
actual fall. 

In fact, I had scarcely reached Ferrieres, when a re- 
lation of my wife, who had secretly quitted Paris, has- 
tened to me at midnight to convey the important intel- 
ligence that I should be arrested on the following day, 
and that my papers would be seized. Although the 
particulars were magnified, the information was posi- 
tive ; it came from an individual attached to the empe- 
ror's private cabinet, and long engaged in my interest. 
I immediately went to work, and stored away all my 
most important papers. As soon as the operation was 
completed, I resigned myself with stoical fortitude to 
whatever might occur ; and at eight o'clock my confi-^ 

dential emissary J arrived full post with a letter 

from Madame de V — — in a feigned hand, informing 
me that Savary had just told the emperor that I had 
carried off his secret correspondence and confidential 
orders to Ferrieres. I saw in the twinkhng of an eye 
from whom Madame de V obtained her informa- 
tion. It confirmed the first intelligence, but the papers 
now appeared to be the only matters of interest. Al- 
though thus re-assured as to the subject of actual vio- 
lence to my person, I was picturing to myself the arri- 
val of the chief Shire and his archers, when my people 
informed me that a carriage, preceded by outriders, 

* The author almost always neglects dates. We believe thjat it 
was on the ?6th of June, 1810. — Note by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 261 

was entering the court of the chateau. But Napoleon, 
restrained, I presume, by some remains of decency, had 
spared me^the mortification of coming in contact with 
his pohce minister. It was Berthier who entered my 
apartment, followed by the counsellors of state Real 
and Dubois. 

From their embarrassment I gathered that I had not 
entirely lost my influence, and that their mission was 
conditional. In fact, Berthier, commencing the business, 
told me, with a constrained air, that he came by the 
emperor's orders to demand his correspondence ; that 
he imperiously insisted upon it; and that if I refused, 
the police prefect, Dubois, who was present, had orders 
to arrest me, and place a seal on my papers. Real, as- 
suming a tone of persuasion, and addressing me with 
more onction as an old friend, begged of me, nearly with 
tears in his eyes, to submit to the emperor's wishes. 
" I," said I, calmly, " I resist the emperor's wishes ? 
can such a thing enter your heads? I who have al- 
ways served the emperor with so great a degree of 
zeal, although wounded by his unjust suspicions, even at 
those times when I served him most effectually. Come 
into my closet ; search everywhere, gentlemen ; I will 
give my keys into your hands ; I will myself put you in 
possession of all my papers. It is lucky for me that ihe 
emperor has put me to this unexpected test, from which 
it is impossible but that I shall go forth with advantage. 
The rigorous examination of all my papers, and my 
correspondence, will give the emperor means of con- 
vincing himself of the injustice of the suspicions with 
which the malice of my enemies alone could have in- 
spired him against the most devoted of his servants, and 
the most faithful of his ministers." The calmness and 
firmness which I had assumed while making this ha- 
rangue, produced its effect, and I proceeded in these 
words : " As to the private correspondence with me 
during the exercise of my functions, as it was of a na- 
ture which required its being buried in eternal secrecy, 
1 partly burned it, when I resigned my office, not wishr 



262 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ing to expose papers of so great an importance to the 
chances of an indiscreet investigation. As to the rest, 
gentlemen, you will still find, with this exception, the 
papers which the emperor requires ; they are 1 believe, 
in two locked and ticketed cartons ; you will have no 
difficulty in recognising them, nor will you be likely to 
confound them with my private papers, which I give 
up with the same frankness to your research. Once 
more, I fear nothing, and have nothing to fear from my 
subjection to this proof." 

The commissioners grew perfectly confused with my 
protestations and excuses. On recovering, they pro- 
ceeded to examine my papers, or rather I examined 
them myself, in the presence of Dubois. I must do this 
justice to Dubois, that although he was my personal 
enemy, and more especially charged with the execution 
of the emperor's orders, he conducted himself with as 
much reserve as decorum; whether it was that he al- 
ready had a presentiment of his own disgrace shortly 
following mine,* or whether he judged it prudent not 
to disgust, too much, a minister who after two falls could 
re-ascend the pinnacle of power. 

Influenced, probably, by my openness,'t the imperial 
commission contented itself Avith some insignificant pa- 
pers, which I wished to consign to it ; and, in conclu- 
sion, after the customary forms of politeness, Berthier, 
Real, and Dubois re-entered their carriage, and return- 
ed to Paris. At the close of night, I made my exit by 
the little gate in my park, got into the cabriolet of my 
homme d^a^aires, and, accompanied by a friend, hurried 
to Paris, where I was set down incognito at my hotel 
in the Rue du Bac. There I learnt, two hours after- 
wards, (for all my strings were in motion,) that the em- 

* M. the Count Dubois was succeeded by M. Pasquier, in his 
functions of prefect of police, on the 14th of October, 1810. Fouch^ 
has intimated one of the motives of his disgrace, in the first part of 
his memoirs. — JYote by the French Editor. 

t The word openness (candeur) was underlined in the original 
©Otes. — Mte of the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 263 

peror, on the report of what had passed at Ferrieres, 
had fallen into a violent passion ; that after having bro- 
ken out in threats against me, he had exclaimed, that I 
had plajed oif a trick upon the commissioners ; that 
they were imbecilles ; and that Berthier was in regard 
to state affairs, no better than an old woman, who had 
suffered himself to be mystified by the craftiest man in 
the empire. 

The next day at nine o'clock in the morning, having 
concerted my plan, I hastened to Saint Cloud, and there 
presented myself to the grand marechal of the palace, 
"Here I am," said I to Duroc; "I am prompted by 
the most urgent interest, to see the emperor without 
delay, and to prove to him, that I am very far from de- 
serving his cruel mistrust, and unjust suspicion. Tell 
him, I entreat you, that I am waiting in your closet, till 
he deigns to grant me a few minutes' audience." " I 
will go instantly," replied Duroc, " and I am very glad 
to see that you have mixed a little water with your wine.'''' 
Such was the exact phrase he used, and it squared 
with the idea which I wished to give him of my de- 
portment. Duroc, returning, took me by the hand, led 
me forward, and left me in the emperor's closet. From 
the first aspect and deportment of Napoleon, I guessed 
what was passing in his mind. Without giving me time 
to say a single word, he embraced me, flattered me, 
and went even so far as to testify a kind of repentance 
for the dissatisfaction he had expressed with regard to 
me ; then, Avith an accent which seemed to say that he 
himself offered me a pledge of reconciliation, he con- 
cluded by requiring, and, in short, demanding his corres- 
pondence. "Sire," I replied with a determined tone, 
" I have burnt it." " That is not true ; I must have it," 
replied he, with compressed vehemence and anger. 
" It is reduced to ashes" — " Withdraw!" These words 
were pronounced with a scowling motion of the head, 
and a withering look. " But, Sire" — " Withdraw, I 
say!" This was repeated with such emphasis as to dis- 
suade me from staying. I held ready in my hand a 



264 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

brief memorial, which I laid on the table as I retired; 
an action which I accompanied with a respectful bow. 
The emperor, bursting with anger, seized the paper, 
and tore it to pieces. 

Duroc, who saw me so soon returning, perceiving nei- 
ther trouble nor eaiotion depicted in my appearance, 
imagined that I was restored to favour. " You have 
come off well," said he; "I prevented the emperor 
yesterday from causing you to be arrested." " You 
spared him," I returned, "the commission of a very 
foolish act — an act which would at all events have been 
impolitic, and which would have supplied malignity with 
matter to work on. The emperor, by that means, 
would have scattered alarm among those individuals 
who are most devoted to the interests of his govern- 
ment." I perceived from Duroc's manner, that this 
was also his opinion, and taking him by the hand I said, 
"Do not suffer yourself to be alienated, Duroc; the 
emperor stands in need of your prudent counsel." 

I quitted Saint Cloud, somewhat re-assured by this 
half-confidence of the grand marechal, for which I was 
indebted to a mistake; and returned, pondering on the 
posture of the affair, to my hotel. 

I was about to return to Ferrieres, after having des- 
patched some urgent business, when the Prince de Neuf- 
chatel was announced. " The emperor," said he, "is 
very angry. I never saw him in so violent a passion; 
he has taken it into his head, that you have deceived 
him, and carried audacity so far, as falsely to maintain 
to his face that you had burnt his letters, in order to 
avoid giving them up; he pretends that it is a punish- 
able misdemeanor, to persist in retaining them." " This 
suspicion," said I to Berthier, " is the most unjust part 
of the whole affair. The correspondence of the empe- 
ror would, on the contrary, be my only guarantee, and 
if I possessed it, I would not give it up." Berthier ur- 
gently implored me to yield ; but finding me silent, he 
concluded by threats in the emperor's name. "Go to 
him," I replied, " and tell him, that I have been accus- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 2()5 

tomed for these five and twenty years to sleep with my 
head on the scaffold ; that 1 know the extent of his 
power, but that I do not fear it; and add, that if he 
wishes to make a Strafford of me, he is at full liberty 
to do so." We then separated; I more than ever re- 
solved to stand firm, and scrupulously retain the undeni-' 
able proofs that all which was most violent and iniqui- 
tous in the exercise of ray ministerial functions had been 
imperiously prescribed, by orders emanating from the 
cabinet, and invested with the seal of the emperor. 

Neither was it the efi'ect of public disgrace, which I 
so much feared, as ambuscades prepared against me in 
darkness. Determined by my own reflections, as well 
as the entreaties of my friend and of all I held most 
dear, I threw myself into a post-chaise, taking with me 
only my eldest son and his tutor. I then took the road 
to Lyon ; there I found my old secretary Maillocheau, 
general commissary of police, who was indebted to me 
for his place ; 1 obtained from him all the papers which 
I thought I might Avant, and rapidly traversed a great 
part of France. Thence passing with the same celerity 
into Italy, I arrived at Florence with a boldly conceived 
design, which I thought was calculated to secure me 
from the emperor's resentment. But such was the 
state of my physical irritability, and the excess of the 
fatigue with which so rapid and so long a journey had 
overwhelmed me, that it was necessary to give up two 
entire days to repose, before I could find myself in a 
proper condition to provide for my own safety. 

It was not unintentionally, and this I will explain pre- 
sently, that I had sought refuge in that classic land, be- 
loved from time immemorial by gods and men. Beau- 
tiful and free, Tuscany, which had at first fallen under 
the dominion of the Medicis, subsequently under the 
sceptre of the house of Austria, princes who had al- 
ways governed it rather in the character of fathers 
than of kings, was at that time plunged in the gulf of 
the French empire. 

1 pass over the delusive cession made by Napoleon 
34 - 



266 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

to the infant of Parma, under the title of King of Etru- 
ria, a cession revoked almost as soon as it was conclud- 
ed. Tuscany was reserved for other destinies. Ever 
since 1807, Eliza, Napoleon's sister, ruled over it under 
the title of grand duchess. And it was I, by inconsis- 
tent and extraordinary vicissitudes ! it was I, who now 
came to place myself' under the protection of a woman' 
I disliked; who formerly giving strength to the coterie 
Fontanes and Mole, had contributed to my first dis- 
c-race ; of that Avoman of whom I shall have to say, in 
this place, more in her favour than against her, in order 
to be just — for I have a habit of speaking and writing 
according to the associations of the epoch, but without 
passion or resentment. Such ought, in fact, to be the 
standing maxim of the statesman ; the past ought in his 
eyes to appear in no other light than history; every 
thing is comprised in the present. 

When, besides, the question concerns females sub- 
jected to the influence of strong passions, it admits of 
an easy explanation. At my resumption of office I had 
found it expedient to conciliate Eliza; I had successive- 
ly protected two individuals Hin and Les , to 

whom she was much attached, and who, within a short 
interval, had rendered themselves in the strongest de- 
gree necessary to her inclinations. The one, in the 
character of a broker, had been bitterly persecuted by 
the emperor; the other, more obscure, had plunged 
himself into a disgraceful transaction. It was not with- 
out trouble that I succeeded in hushing the matter up. 

I had, moreover, persuaded Napoleon in 1805, to 
confer on his sister the sovereignty of Lucca and Piom- 
bino ; I was, besides, almost certain of still finding the 
heart of Eliza disposed to feelings of gratitude ; and I 
did not hesitate to assure myself of the fact, on the 
very day when my disgrace was aggravated by my last 
interview with the emperor. Having presented my- 
self to the grand duchess, who was then at Paris to as- 
sist in the marriage ceremony, I had solicited from 
her, without entirely confiding to her all the thorny 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 267 

points of my position, letters for her dominions, through 
which, as 1 told her, I was about to pass, in order to 
proceed to Rome. Eliza assented with infinite affabi- 
lity, giving me warm recommendations, and designating 
me in her letters by the amiable epithet of the common 
friend. This is necessary to explain. I had in Tus- 
cany some friends, whom I had stationed there, to 
their pecuniary advantage, and the grand duchess gave 
them all the latitude 1 required to serve me. Such 
was the steadiness of their character, that I could, 
without risk, reveal to them all the difficulties of my 
situation. 

The intelligence received nearly at the same time 
from Paris, and from my family, which had stopped at 
Aix, brought nothing of a re-assuring description. On 
the contrary, it portrayed the emperor, goaded by Sa- 
vary, and inclined to break out into violence against 
my alleged obstinacy, which was termed indiscreet, and 
even mad. No one at that time could entertain the 
idea of a single individual daring to resist the will of 
him to whom all things, whether potentates or nations, 
bowed the knee. " Is it your intention," wrote one of 
my friends to me, " to make yourself more powerful 
than the emperor ?" My head became giddy with 
the supposition, and I was in my turn intimidated. In 
my sleepless nights, and in my dreams, I imagined my- 
self surrounded by executioners, and seemed as if I be- 
held in the native country of Dante, the inexorable vi- 
sion of his infernal gates. The spectre of tyranny de- 
picted itself on my imagination with more frightful fea- 
tures than during the most sanguinary despotism of Ro- 
bespierre, who had condemned me to the scaffold. 
Here I was less in dread of the scaffold than of a dun- 
geon. I knew, alas, but too well, the man with whom 
I had to deal. My head becoming more and more heat- 
ed by degrees, I returned to the first idea which had 
presented itself to my mind ; and I took the desperate 
resolution of embarking for the United States, that 
common refuge of the unfortunate friends of liberty, 



268 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

Secure of Dubois,* director of police in the grand du- 
chy, who was indebted to me for his place, I obtained 
blank passports ; and proceeded to Leghorn, where 1 
freighted a vessel, giving out that I was going by sea 
to Naples, whence 1 intended to proceed to Rome. I 
went on board ; I even set sail fully determined to 
pass the straits, and cross the Atlantic. But, just hea- 
vens ! to what a terrible affliction was my frail irrita- 
ble habit of body subjected. A dreadful sea sickness 
loaded my bosom, and tore my entrails. Vanquished 
by my suiierings, I began to regret that I had not at- 
tended to the remonstrances of my friends and family, 
whose future existence I was about to compromise. I 
nevertheless struggled on ; and resisted as much as 
possible the idea of yielding to the influence which op- 
pressed me. But I had already lost my senses, and 
was about to expire when I was re-landed. Over- 
whelmed by this rough trial, I subsequently declined 
the offer of a generous English captain, who wished to 
convey me to his native island, on board of a commodi-^ 
ous vessel and a good sailer, promising me at the same 
time such attention and antidotes as would secure me 
against the return of sea-sickness. I had no longer the 
means of complying. I was resolved to endure every 
thing sooner than again trust myself to an element in- 
compatible with my habits of life. This cruel proof 
had besides changed my ideas ; I no longer saw objects 
under the same point of view. By degrees, I perceiv- 
ed that there was a possibility of coming to some kind 
of compromise with the emperor, whose rage pursued 
me even to the shores of the Tuscan Sea. 1 still wan- 
dered there for a short time, in order to mature my 

* This individual must not be confounded with Count Dubois, 
prefect of police. We have been informed that the Dubois, direc- 
tor of police in Tuscany, and M. Maillocheau, commissary general 
of police at Lyon, were severely reprimanded by the Duke of Ro- 
vigo, for having favoured the furtive journey of Fouche. The 
commissary general of Lyon, was even cashiered, — Note by the 
french Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 269 

plan, and obtain opportunities for its realization. At 
length my resolution being taken, and my batteries pre- 
pared, I returned to Florence. There I wrote to Eli- 
za, already well-disposed to do me service ; I convey- 
ed a letter to the emperor under cover to her, in 
which, without flattery or humiliation, I confessed that 
I was sorry for having displeased him ; but, that being 
in dread of falling a defenceless victim to the malignity 
of my enemies, I had considered myself entitled, per- 
haps wrongfully, to retain possession of papers, which 
composed my only guarantee. That, on reflection, and 
in deep sorrow for having incurred his displeasure, 1 
had placed myself under the protection of a princess 
who, by the ties of blood, as well as by the goodness 
of her heart, was worthy of being his representative in 
Tuscany ; that to her I consigned my vindication, and 
that I entreated his majesty to grant me, under the 
auspices of the grand duchess, in exchange for the pa-e 
pers which I had determined to give up in compliance 
with his wish, some kind of indemnity for all the raea-^ 
sures and acts which 1 might have executed by his or^ 
ders, during the duration of my two ministerial func- 
tions ; that a pledge of this description, which was ne^ 
cessary to my security and repose, would constitute a 
sacred Egis, capable of defending me against the attacks 
of envy, and the shafts of malice ; that I had already 
more than one reason to believe that his majesty, out 
of regard to my zeal and services, would deign to re-? 
open the only access which remained to his goodness 
and justice, by permitting me to retire to Aix, the chief 
place of my senatorship, and to reside there in the bo- 
som of my family till further orders. 

This letter, sent by estafette to the grand duchess, 
had a full and entire effect ; Eliza interested herself 
zealously. The courier's return announced to me that 
the Prince de Neufchatel, vice-constable, was commis- 
sioned by an express order from the emperor to deliver 
to me a receipt in exchange for the correspondence 
and orders which the emperor had addressed to me 



270 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

during the exercise of my functions, and that I might, 
with lull security, retire to the chief place of my sena- 
tors hi p. 

In this way, through the intervention of the grand 
duchess, was eifected, not certainly a reconciliation be- 
tween me and the emperor, but a kind of compromise, 
which I should have regarded as impracticable three 
weeks before. I was less indebted for it to inclination 
on my part, or sincere submission, than to the results of 
a sea-sickness, the tortures of which I was, from habit 
of body, incapable of supporting. 

Restored to my family I was, at length, enabled, at 
Aix, to enjoy the tranquillity so necessary to the decay 
of my strength, and the condition of my mind, which 
was irritated without being humiliated. It was not 
"without a very painful internal contest that I had con- 
sented to bend my spirit before the violence of the des- 
pot. If at length I decided upon yielding, it was by 
capitulation ; but sacrifices such as these are not made 
without effort by any one who feels the native dignity 
of man ; and who has no other wish than to live under 
a reasonable government. There were for me many 
other motives of bitterness and alarm, in contemplating 
the secret and hurried march of a power which was 
proceeding to devour itself, and the springs of which 
were so familiar to me that their results could no longer 
escape the foresight of my calculations. 

Although I had reason to believe myself condemned 
for a tolerably long term to perfect obscurity and nulli- 
ty, this mode of life, which might have conducted me to 
apathy and indifference, was very ill accordant with a 
mind broken in to the habits and exercise of great af- 
fairs. What others were blind to I perceived; flashes 
of light escaped from the insipid and lying columns of 
the Moniteur, which attracted my notice. The cause 
of the diurnal event was revealed to me by the very 
announcement of its result; truth was in my respect al- 
most always supplied by the affectation of reserve ; and 
jthe lucubrations of the chief magistrate revealed to me 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ' 271 

alternately the joy and torments of his ambition. I 
penetrated the most secret actions, even to the servile 
eagerness of his intimate partisans and most tried 
agents. 

Nevertheless details were w^anting ; I was too far 
from the scene of action. How, for example, could I 
divine the sudden incidents, and the unforeseen acci- 
dents, which occurred out of the ordinary circle of 
things? There was always some commotion or some 
storm in the interior of the palace. If some scattered 
and broken rumours of these transpired, they seldom 
reached the extreme limits of the provinces without 
being altered or mutilated through ignorance or pas- 
sion. 

The inveterate custom of desiring to know every 
thing pursued me ; and I yielded the more easily to it, 
in the midst of the ennui of a tranquil and monotonous 
state of exile. By the assistance of steady friends and 
faithful emissaries, I arranged my secret correspondence, 
corroborated by regular bulletins, which, as they reach- 
ed me from various quarters, might be reciprocally 
checked ; in a word, I established my counter-police at 
Aix. This amusement, which was at first weekly, was 
repeated subsequently more than once a week, and I 
was informed of all that occurred in a more piquante 
manner. Such were the occupations of my retreat. 
There, surrounded by the calm atmosphere of reflec- 
tion, my Parisian bulletins arrived in such a manner as 
to stimulate my political meditations. Oh ! ever coura- 
geous, witty, and faithful V ; you who grasped al- 
most all the threads of that net-work of information 
and of truth; you, who endowed with superior sagacity 
and reason, and who always active and calm, remained 
faithful, under all circumstances, to gratitude and friend- 
ship — accept the tribute of respect and tenderness, 
which my heart longs to renew, even to the moment of 
my last sigh. You were not, however, the only agent 
employed for the common interest, in weaving the pa- 
triotic web which had been preparing for more than a 



272 BIEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

twelvementh, to meet the probable chance of a catas- 
trophe.* The amiable and profound D , the beau- 
tiful and alluring R , seconded jour noble zeal. 

You also had your knights of secret mystery enrolled 
under the banners of the hidden graces and virtues. 
It must be confessed, in the midst of social decomposi- 
tion, whether under the reign of terror, or during the 
two directorial and imperial tyrannies, who did we re- 
mark so capable of a rare disinterestedness as to devote 
themselves for the common good ? Some half dozen 
females. What do I say ? — a large number of females, 
who retained the generosity of their ideas uninfected by 
that contagion of venality and baseness which degrades 
human nature and bastardizes nations. 

Alas ! we were at that time approaching, after many- 
misfortunes, the boundaries of that fatal cycle in which 
we had every thing to deplore or fear as a nation; we 
were approaching that frightful future, and more fright- 
ful because it was near, in which every thing was likely 
to be compromised and subjected to question; our for- 
tune, our honour, our repose : Ave had been indebted 
for them, it is true, to the great man himself; but that 
extraordinary personage persevered, in spite of the les- 
sons of all ages, in attempting to exercise a power with- 
out counterpoise and without control. Devoured by 
the fever of domination and conquest, raised to the pin- 
nacle of human authority, it was no longer in his power 
to stop in his career. 

Thanks to my correspondence and secret informa- 
tion, I followed him step by step in his public proceed- 
ings as well as his private actions. If I did not lose 
sight of him, the reason was, that the whole empire 
was himself; the reason was, that all our power, all our 
fortune, resided in his fortune and his power ; an alarm- 
ing incorporation, beyond a doubt, because it placed at 

* Fouche in this place only lifts a corner of the veil ; what fol- 
lows will apprize the reader of all which the ex-minister at present 
conceals, — JVote by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 273 

the mercy of a single man not only one nation, but a 
hundred different nations. 

Arrived at the zenith of his power, Napoleon did 
not even make a single hall ; it was during the two 
years which I passed in absence fiom affairs, that the 
germ of his decline, which was at first imperceptible, 
began to develope itself. On that account 1 thought, 
therefore, to advert in this place to the rapid effects of 
it, less for the sake of gratifying a vain curiosity, than 
of contributing to the utility of history. It will moreo- 
ver be by means of this highly natural transition, that I 
shall be conducted without any gap to the subject of 
my re-appearance* on the stage of the world, and my 
re-direction of state affairs. 

The year 1810, at first distinguished by the marriage 
of Napoleon and Maria Louisa, and afterwards by my 
disgrace, was also rendered remarkable by the dis- 
grace of Pauline Borghese, the emperor's sister, and 
by the abdication of his brother Louis, king of Holland. 
Let us investigate these two events, in order to be bet- 
ter enabled to explain what followed. 

Of the three sisters of Napoleon, Eliza, Caroline, and 
Pauline, the latter, who was celebrated for her beauty, 
was the individual whom he most loved, without, how- 
ever, suffering himself to be subjected by her influence. 
Full of levity, Inconsistency, and laxity of morals, with- 
out talent, but not without some smartness and some in- 
formation, she delighted in splendour, in dissipation, and 
all kind of flattery. Never had she conceived so great 
a hatred for any man as for Leclerc, her first husband, 
and still greater for one of the most amiable of men, 
Prince CamlUe Borghese, to whom Napoleon had unit- 
ed her by her second marriage. Her first marriage 
was what is called a garrison marriage. Being taken 
ill, and refusing to follow Leclerc in his expedition to 

* This word [re-apparition] which well expresses what the 
author means, is not French : it is borrowed from the English, and 
can only be supplied by a paraphraee. — JVote by the French Editor. 

35 



274 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

St. Domingo, she was carried by Napoleon's orders in a 
litter on board the admiral's ship. 

Consumed by the burning heat of that tropical cli- 
mate, and banished by the unfortunate result of that 
expedition to the island De la Tortue, she, in order to 
divert her mind, plunged into every species of sensuali- 
ty. On the death of Leclerc, she hastened to take 
ship, not like an Artemisia, nor like the wife of Britan- 
nicus, dissolved in tears, and embracing the funeral urn 
of her husband, but free, triumphant, and eager again 
to revel in all the luxuries of the capital. There, for 
|k long while eaten up by a complaint, the seat of which 

pis an accusing witness against incontinence, Pauhne had 
recourse to all the treasures of Esculapius, and recover- 

'^ ed. Strange effect of her miraculous cure ; far from 
impairing her beauty, it derived from it a greater de- 
gree of lustre and bloom, like some curious flowers 
which are brought to blossom by manure, and render- 
ed more vivacious by the rottenness out of which they 



spr 



mg. 



Desiring nothing but unrestrained and unlimited en- 
V joyment, but dreading her brother and his rough seve- 
/' rity, Pauline formed a project, in conjunctioh with one 
of her women, of subjecting Napoleon to the full domi- 
nion of her charms. She employed so much art, and 
so much refinement for the purpose, that her triumph 
was complete. Such was the intoxication of the des- 
pot, that more than once his familiars heard him ex- 
claiming, on emerging from one of his fits of transport, 
that his sister was the most beautiful of the beautiful, 
and, in short, the Venus of the age. Her beauty, how- 
ever, Avas only of a masculine description. But let us 
lay aside these portraits, which are more worthy of the 
pencil of Suetonius and Aretin, than of the graving 
tool of history. Voluptuous chateau de JYeui/ly ! mag- 
Dificent palace of the Faubourg St. Honore ! if your 
walls, like those of the palaces of the kings of Ba- 
bylon, could reveal the truth, what licentious scenes 
would you not depict in characters of exaggerated size ! 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 27^ 

/^ For more than a year the infatuation of the brother [ 
for the sister maintained its dominion, although unac- I 
companied by passion; in fact, no other passion but that \ 
of dominion and conquest could master that haughty 
"^ and warhke spirit. When, after the battle of Wagram, 
and the peace of Vienna, Napoleon returned in triumph 
to Paris, preceded by the report of his approaching di- 
vorce with Josephine, he went that very day to his 
sister, who was in a state of agitation, and the most con- 
scious anticipation of his return. Never had she dis- 
played so much love and adoration for her brother. I 
heard her say on that very day, for she was not aware 
that there was any mystery to be preserved towards 
me, " Why do we not rule in Egypt? We might then 
act like the Ptolomies ; 1 might divorce my husband, 
and marry my brother." 1 knew her to be too un- 
instructed to have conceived such an idea herself, 
and immediately detected in it an ejaculation of Na- 
poleon. 

The bitter and concentrated disappointment which 
Pauline felt may be conceived, when some months af- 
ter that time she saw Maria Louisa, adorned with all 
her native frankness, make her appearance at the 
nuptial ceremony, and take her seat on the throne by 
the side of Napoleon. The imperial court then under- 
went a thorough reform in its habits, its morals, and , 
its etiquette ; the reform was complete and rigorous. / 
From that moment the licentious court of Pauline was I 
deserted ; and that woman, who united all the weak- I 
nesses to all the graces of her sex, considering Maria j 
Louisa in the light of a fortunate rival, conceived a 1 
mortal jealousy against her, and nourished the most in- J 
tense resentment in the recesses of her heart. Her 
health was impaired by it. By the advice of her phy- 
sician, she had recourse to the waters oi Aix la Chapelle, 
as well for the purpose of recovery as for that of es- 
caping the ennui to which she was a prey. Having 
undertaken her journey, she passed the line of direction 
in which Napoleon and Maria Louisa were travelling 



276 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

towards the frontier of Holland. There compelled t© 
appear at the court of the new empress, and eagerly 
seizing an opportunity of insulting her as much as pos- 
sible, she went so far as to make, behind her back, 
■while she was passing through the salon, a sign with 
her two fingers, and that accompanied by an indecent 
tittering, which the common people apply, in their gross 
style of derision, to credulous and deluded husbands. 
Napoleon, who witnessed and was shocked by the im- 
pertinence, which the reflection of the mirrors had even 
revealed to Maria Louisa, never forgave his sister; she 
that day received an order to withdraw from court. 
From that time, disdaining submission, she preferred to 
live in exile and disgrace, till the period of the events 
of 1814, a period which restored her past affection, 
and proved her fidelity to the misfortunes of her bro- 
ther. 

The disgrace of Louis, king of Holland, was of a 
more dignified description. 

Up to this time, the emperor had only persecuted 
and despoiled legitimate sovereigns, as if by that means 
he had really intended, according to his own imprudent 
disclosure, to make his own family the most ancient in 
Europe. But now, preserving no more terms, he went 
so far as to depose a king of his own race, whose brow 
he himself had bound with the royal diadem. The 
question was asked whether he had proclaimed his bro- 
ther King of Holland, in order to reduce him to the 
condition of his prefect. Louis, who was of a mild 
character, and a friend of justice, beheld with deep sor- 
row the ruin of his kingdom, occasioned by the eliect of 
that continental system which destroyed all industry 
and commerce. He secretly favoured a maritime trade, 
notwithstanding the threats of his brother, who applied 
to his conduct the epithet of fmudeur. Exasperated 
by seeing himself thus disobeyed, forgetting that he 
had told his brother, when investing him with the royal 
office, and in order to vanquish his repugnancy, that it 
ivas much better to die a king than live a prince, Louis, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 277 

finding himself incapable of preventing the occupation 
of his states by the soldiers and custom-house officers of 
his brother, abdicated the crown in favour of his son, 
announcing his resolution by a message to the legisla- 
tive body of Holland in these terms: "My brother, 
although much exasperated against me, is not so against 
my children ; he will certainly never destroy what he 
has erected for their sakes ; he will not take away 
their inheritance, since he will never have occasion to 
complain of a child who cannot govern for himself. 
The queen, ajjpointed to the regency, will do her ut- 
most to conciliate the emperor, my brother. She will 
be more fortunate than me, whose exertions have never 
been crowned with success; and who can tell? — per- 
haps I may be the only impediment to a reconciliation 
between France and Holland. If that be the case, I 
shall readily seek consolation in passing the remainder 
of my life in wandermg and suffering far from the chif^f 
objects of my profoundest affection." An abdication 
like this was not undignified. The message was hardly- 
delivered, when Louis secretly quitted Holland, and re- 
tired to Gratz, in Styria, in the Austrian states, having 
nothing more to live upon than a trifling pension. His 
wife Hortense, more greedily disposed, appropriated to 
herself the two millions of revenue which Napoleon de- 
creed in favour of his disinherited brother. 

This first example of Bonapartean abdication struck 
me, and induced me to reflect. Shall I confess the 
truth ? it gave me the idea of the possibility which 
existed of one day saving the empire, by means of an 
abdication imposed upon him who might, by his extra- 
vagance, compromise its prosperity. It will be seen 
in what manner this idea, which was at first confined 
to myself, germinated afterwards in other political 
heads. 

It may be thought that the abdication of Louis would 
have disconcerted Napoleon. But was he not sur- 
rounded by men, incessantly occupied with the task of 
varnishing over his invasions and encroachments ? Does 



278 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

any one want to know what was the rhetoric employed 
ujjon this subject by Champagny, Due de Cadore, his 
minister for foreign affairs, successively promoted to 
the highest offices, and of whom Talleyrand had form- 
ed so accurate a judgment, when saying that he was a 
man fit for every kind of place on the evening preced- 
ing the day of his appointment ? This minister, so well 
instructed, commenced by proving, in a jumble called a 
report, that the abdication of the king of Holland, he 
being incapable of such an act without the consent of 
Napoleon, was null by virtue of that circumstance, and 
of no effect. From this he deduced the marvellous in- 
ference, (and this grand effort of logic was anticipated,) 
that Holland ought to be considered as a conquest, and 
reunited to the French empire ; an inference which an 
imperial decree decided without appeal. 

This event had a characteristic scene for its last 
act. Napoleon caused the son of Louis, still a child, 
and whom he had created grand Due de Berg, to be 
brought into his presence ; and addressed him in the 
following short harangue ; " Come hither, my son ; the 
>conduct of your father afflicts my heart : his disorder 
alone can explain it ;* come to my arms ; I will be your 
father ; you shall lose nothing by the event ; but never 
forget, in Avhatever situation my policy may place you, 
that your paramount duty is owing to me ; and that all 
jour duties towards the people committed to your care 
are subordinate." In this manner it was that Napoleon 
rent asunder the veil of so measureless an ambition, that 
he placed himself above the King of kings, and the 
sovereignty of all nations. 

For the present, let us say a word on the true cause 
of the usurpation of Holland : I can speak of it with so 
much the more certainty, since it is in some degree 
connected with my fall. When the marriage with an 

* This insinuation of Napoleon, against his brother, was calum- 
nious. Louis was melancholy, and valetudinarian ; but his sound 
and right-minded judgment was not affected by that circumstance. — 
J^oU by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 279 

arch-duchess was resolved on, Napoleon had a glimpse 
of a general pacification, which I exerted myself to 
mature into a firm and reasonable determination. I 
kneAV bj my emissaries, that the cabinet of London was 
attached to two decisive points : the independence of 
Holland, and of the Peninsula. With Louis at its head, 
the maintenance of the separation of Holland might be 
counted one. As to the Peninsula, Napoleon would' 
only consent to withdraw his pretensions to Portugal, 
and for this sole reason, that he found nothing but 
impediments in the way of his consummation of the 
conquest. I did not, however, despair of filling him 
with disgust at the occupation of Spain, which had 
already cost him so great an effusion of blood, and which 
was every thing but secure. By his authority, I con- 
certed with his brother Louis, during his residence in 
Paris, in 1810, a plan of secret and special negotiation 
with London. Louis Avrote to his minister of foreign 
affairs, that Napoleon was so enraged against him and 
the English, in consequence of their clandestine trade 
with his dominions, that it would be impossible to pre- 
vent the forcible re-union of Holland with France, unless 
a maritime peace instantly took place, or, at least, unless 
changes in the British system of blockade, and orders of 
council, were not effected. He authorized his minister 
to come to an understanding with his colleagues on this 
head, but always as if acting of their own accord ; and 
to despatch to London an agent, who, being invested 
with a certain degree of consideration, might make 
overtures of negotiation in their especial names. This 
agent was instructed in the first instance to press on the 
notice of the cabinet of St. James' the immense dis- 
advantage which would result to the commerce, and 
even the future saTety of England, should Holland, by 
means of its union with the empire of Napoleon, become 
an instrument of aggression in the hands of the latter; 
that he would, doubtless, take measures to preclude it 
from all commercial connexion. The ministers of Louis 
chose for their agent, M. Labouchere, a banker of 



280 MEMOIRS OP FOUCHE. 

Amsterdam, who repaired to London, with instructions 
to set on foot, in conjunction with the Marquess Wel- 
lesley, a secret negotiation. He was more especialij to 
insist on the necessity of making changes in the execu- 
tion of the orders of council of the month of November, 
1807. But the Marquess Welleslej refused to enter 
into a detached negotiation on the subject of Holland, in 
the full persuasion that its independence could only be 
ensured as long as it was Napoleon's pleasure, and he 
till then had shewn himself little disposed to recognise 
the rights of any of the nations placed under his influ- 
ence. However, with a view to sound the sincere 
intentions of Napoleon, he authorized, about the same 
epoch,* the English commissioner Mackenzie, then 
char^jed with the function of continuing the negotiation 
at Morlaix, relative to the exchange of prisoners, to 
open a negotiation for a maritime peace, which was to 
be concealed by the ostensible negotiation going on with 
the French commissioner, employed to superintend the 
treaty of exchange.t The cabinet of St. James', through 
the organ of the commissioner Mackenzie, left to Napo- 
leon his choice between three modes of treating : viz,, 
1st. The state of possession before hostilities : 2nd. The 
state of present possession : .3rd. Reciprocal compen- 
sation. But Napoleon, intoxicated by his prosperity, 
refused to listen to any of these bases of negotiation, 
rejecting every description of peace but that, the con- 
ditions of which he should prescribe. 

From that moment the Marquess Wellesley refused 
to receive any overture from the banker Labouchere, 
and even from M. Fagan, whom I had commissioned to 
address him with the same view. The English minis- 
try was too well persuaded of the efficacy of its system 
of blockade to accede to any modlticatlon in that re- 
spect. The negotiation, therefore, was irredeemably 

* April, 1810. 

t M. the Marquess du Montier, at thi§ time ambassador from 
Oharles X., in Switzerland. — JVole by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 281 

broken off; and Napoleon, perceiving that he could not 
compel England to yield to his will, resolved, in the 
spirit of vengeance, to invade the kingdom of his brother, 
hoping by that means to withdraw Holland for ever 
from the influence of English commerce. At the same 
time, he conceived that he could no longer defer the 
disgrace of his minister of police, who int^essantly labour- 
ed to bring him back to a reasonable system of adminis- 
tration and policy. He was the more indtsced to make 
a sacrifice of me, in consequence of his private corres- 
pondents repeating, in reference to myself, and in accord- 
ance with certain London pamphleteers ; " that he 
trembled before his own work, without having the 
courage to destroy it." He was waiting for the oppor- 
tunity for several months past. It has been seen * how 
uneasy he was respecting my connexion with Bernadotte. 
In this case, there appeared to him a more plausible 
motive for my disgrace. He pretended that, under 
pretext of negotiating on the subject of Holland, my 
agents, at London, had done nothing but abandon them- 
selves to intrigues and fraudulent speculations ; by that 
means seeking to make me responsible for the rupture 
of a negotiation, which had only failed through his bad 
faith and domineering spirit. Such is an elucidation of 
the true motives of the invasion of Holland, and of my 
disgrace, the accuracy of which I can guarantee. 

This system of irreconciliation and violence was per- 
petuated by an imperial decree,t the purport of which 
was, that all English merchandise which existed in places 
subjected to the emperors dominions, or conquered by 
his arms, should be publicly burnt. This was an appen- 
dix to the Berlin and Milan decrees, that is to say, that 
the same steps were to be taken at Amsterdam and 
Leghorn, as had already been taken at Berlin, Frank- 
fort, Mayence, and Paris. If the observation could not 

* In the first part of these memoirs. — Note by the French Editor. 
■ From the 19th of October, 1810. . 
36 



282 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

here be made, that " to burn was not to answer," it 
could at least be said, that " to burn was not to govern." 

Such was the consequences of the continental system, 
which according to silly and dastardly counsellors, was 
to conclude by putting England hors de combat^ and 
delivering the whole world to Napoleon. And this 
incendiary idea, which became with him, in particular, 
a fixed belief, was nothing but a political tradition, inhe- 
rited by him from the directorial government, which 
the jurists of clubs and gazettes had persuaded, that 
the only way to reduce England, was to exclude her 
from the ports of the continent. 

But in order to do this, it was first necessary to sub- 
jugate continental Europe, of which Napoleon did not 
yet possess more than one-third ; the rest languished 
under the dead weight of the kings, his allies, his friends, 
or his tributaries. What a spirit reigned in the notes 
which the minister Champagny Cadore successively 
addressed to them, in order to persuade them to close 
their ports against all English vessels ! " That there 
was no longer any neutrals for the European states ; 
that they should not carry on any commerce active or 
passive, on their own account, and that France alone, 
by means of licenses, negotiated at London, would pro- 
vide them with such goods as it was indispensable for 
them to receive." Such was the famous continental 
system, which tended to abolish the commerce of the 
world, and^ which on that very account was impracti- 
cable. Besides, it would have been soon found neces- 
sary to modify it, or rather to merge it in the system 
of licenses invented by England. 

Bonaparte was, therefore, himself observed from the 
end of 1810 to impart a latitude to this system by 
granting permission, for a given sum, to introduce into 
France a certain quantity of colonial produce ; but on 
condition of exchanging it for goods of French manu- 
facture, which were most frequently thrown into the 
sea on account of the difiiculties raised by the English 
custom-house officers. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ' 283 

And who obtained the greatest profit by this unpre- 
cedented monopoly? Undoubtedly not the subaltern 
speculators, nor the commissioners tarifes by the great 
speculator in chief, who were reduced to little more 
than a trivial profit of commission. But the emperor's 
profit was clear and nett. Every day he observed, 
with an access of joy, which he did not disguise, the 
accumulation of treasure stored in the cellars of the Pa- 
vilion Marson; they were completely encumbered with 
them. These treasures already amounted to near five 
hundred millions in specie ;* it was a residue of the two 
milliards of circulatino^ medium introduced into France 
by the efTect of conquest. The desire of gold might 
thus have superseded eventually the desire of conquest 
in the mind of Napoleon, if the inexorable Nemesis had 
suffered him to grow old. 

To form an idea of the accumulation of wealth iden- 
tified with the development of this individual's power, 
forty millions of moveables and four or five millions of 
plate, preserved in the imperial mansions, must be ad- 
ded to the treasures concealed in the cellars of the Tu- 
ileries; five hundred millions distributed under the 
name of dotations to the army ; and, finally, the domaine 
extraordinaire, amounting to more than seven hundred 
millions, and which was unlimited since it was composed 
of property, "which the emperor, exercising the right 
of peace and war, acquired by conquests and treaties." 
With such an indefinite text as the above, it was impos- 
sible for any thing to escape him. Already the funds 
of this domaine extraordinaire were composed of whole 
provinces, of states whose fate had not been de- 
cided, and of the produce of confiscations throughout 
the empire. It would have, doubtless, concluded by 
absolving all the public revenues and property which 
might chance to escape from the two other institutions 

* The voluntary companions of the captive of St. Helena, have 
since confirmed this disclosure; but they only compute the especial 
treasure of their idol in the best times at four hundred ntjillions.-*^ 
J^ote by the French Editor. 



284 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of imperial domains and private domains. To subject 
the whole of France to a new form of vassalage, and 
attach it to his domain, by annual fiefs, was also one of 
the favourite ideas of Napoleon. 

What a magnificent regime of military spoliation on 
the one hand, and of gifts and prodigality on the other. 
Whither was it likely to conduct us ? To shed our 
blood in order to subject the whole Avorld to a state of 
vassalage. And, besides, there was but little hope of 
satiating the voracity of the favourites and votaries of 
an insatiable conqueror. 

Such suppositions resulting from my pen, and the re- 
flections which accompany them will occasion some rea- 
ders, I doubt not, to smile or sneer. How, it will be 
said, was it, that this minister, so mortified because he 
was disgraced, remained a stranger to the abuses of lu- 
crative gratuities which he now, perhaps, exclaims 
against because their source is dried up ? Was he not 
himself loaded with honours and riches ? — And who de- 
nies it? What, because a man has shared in the indivi- 
dual advantages of an outrageous, pernicious, and insup- 
portable system, should he abstain from telling the 
truth when he has pledged himself to reveal every 
thing? The time for reservation is past. It is, besides, 
necessary in this place, io state the causes of the fall of 
the greatest empire Avhich ever adorned or desolated 
the universe. 

It will be seen how Napoleon, with very little inter- 
val of delay, voluntarily precipitated himself beyond all 
the bounds of moderation and prudence. 

As one consequence of the usurpation of Holland, he 
declared in a message, addressed to the senate,* that 
new guarantees were indispensable to hiui, and those 
which had appeared to him most urgent, was the re- 
union of the mouth of the Scheldt, of the Meuse, of 
the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe; and 
the establishment of an interior navigation in the Baltic. 

* The 10th of December, 1810. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 285 

Thence resulted a senatus consultum* decreeing that 
Holland, a considerable portion of the north of Germa- 
ny, and the free towns of Hamburgh, Bremen, and Lu- 
bec, should thenceforth form an integral part of the 
French empire, and comprise .ten new departments. 
It was thus that Napoleon, without thinking of consoli-. 
dating what he had acquired, incessantly tormented 
himself with the thirst of new acquisition. 

This violent incorporation was effected without any 
motive of right, even ostensible ; without any prepara- 
tory negotiation with any cabinet whatsoever; and un- 
der the futile pretext, that it was rendered indispensa- 
ble by the war against England. Napoleon, by this act, 
destroyed even his own creations; neither the states of 
the confederation of the Rhine, nor the kingdom of 
Westphalia, nor any other territory were exempted 
from furnishing their quota towards this new spoil of 
the lion. 

But, he thus obtained for himself a new frontier line, 
which deprived the southern and central provinces of 
Germany of all communication with the northern sea, 
which passed the Elbe, separated Denmark from Ger- 
many, established itself on the Baltic, and exhibited a 
tendency to unite with that line of Prussian fortresses 
on the Oder, which we occupied in spite of treaties. 

It will be readily perceived, that this of itself was an 
act sufficient to disturb the neighbouring powers by 
thus establishing on the flanks of Germany a new French 
dominion ; and that by a simple decree, by a senatus 
consultum^ imposed upon a servile senate. I immedi- 
ately concluded, that the treaty of Tilsit, the principal 
object of which was to establish a line of demarcation 
between the two empires, was, by that means, annulled; 
and that France and Russia, thus brought into contact, 
would not be long before they would fall to blows. 

When I learnt, by means of my correspondents at 
Paris, the uneasiness which the junction of the Hanse- 

* Of the 13th of December, 1810. 



286 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

towns caused to Russia, Prussia, and even Austria, I 
was confirmed in the opinion, that there was not only 
comprised in that circumstance the germ of a new uni- 
versal war, but of a conflict which would finally decide 
whether we were to have an universal monarchy in the 
hands of Napoleon Bonaparte, or the restoration of all 
which the revolution had dispersed or destroyed. v 

Alas! with this great question was incorporated ano- 
ther; namely, the identical question of the interest of 
the revolution, and of the safety of the individuals who 
had founded and established it. What was to become 
of them? Could I remain cold, alien, and insensible to 
so disturbing a future prospect ? 

Among the priiices recently despoiled, was the Duke 
of Oldenburg, of the house of Holstein-Gottorp, that is 
to say, of the same house as the emperor of Russia; 
and Napoleon thus took away the patrimony of a prince 
whom policy urged him to ingratiate. A negotiation 
was opened on this subject between the court of St. 
Petersburgh and the cabinet of the Tuileries. Napo- 
leon, by way of idemnity, offered the Duke of Olden- 
burg the city and territory of Erfurt. When I learnt 
that this offer had just been haughtily rejected, that the 
emperor Alexander had, by a formal protest, reserved 
the rights of his family from encroachment, and that 
his ministers had received orders to present that pro- 
test at the various courts, I no longer entertained a 
doubt that war was on the point of breaking out. But, 
reflecting on the circumspect and measured character 
of the emperor Alexander, I concluded that the ap- 
proach of the crisis would neither be abrupt nor precip- 
itate. 

Let us now pass to the year 1811, during which all 
the elements of a frightful tempeat were maturing in 
the midst of a deceitful calm, the illusions and deceptions 
of which I detected. From day to day my Parisian 
bulletins and my private correspondences became more 
animated and more unremittins:. I will ffive a sketch 
jn this place, in order to connect the chain of facts and 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 287 

the most striking details and features, scarcely allowing 
myself to combine with them some short reflections, or 
some necessary elucidations. I have, moreover, alrea- 
dy said, that anxious as I am to arrive at the pei'iod of 
my re-entrance into office, an abridged historical transi- 
tion, which will conduct us to the catastrophes of 1813, 
1814, and 1815, will be most accordant with the spirit 
of my design. 

The first event which offers itself to notice is that 
of the birth of the child, proclaimed king of Rome* at 
the first moment of its existence ; as if a son of Bona- 
parte could not be born any thing else than a king ! 
This sudden revival of the kingdom of Tarquin the 
Proud, appeared to some persons in the light of a bad 
omen ; it recalled too much into notice the spoliation 
recently operated upon the holy see, and the oppres- 
sion exercised upon the person of the sovereign pon- 
tiff*. Ridiculous reports respecting the birth of this in- 
fant king were propagated, I believe, in Paris. If 
these reports, derived at once from the upper and 
lower classes, did not prove a hostile state of p-ublic 
opinion at that epoch against the perpetuity of the new 
dynasty, I may be dispensed with alluding to them as 
unworthy of the dignity of history. Malice exhibited 
itself in an ingeniously credulous point of view. A pre- 
tended pregnancy was at first supposed ; as if an arch- 
duchess, when becoming barren, could ever belie the 
well-known Latin distich. The consequence of this 
supposition led to another fable, according to which 
the king of Rome was identified with a child lately 
born from a connexion between Napoleon and the du- 
chess de M — . Some newsmongers pretended that he 
was substituted in the place of a still-born child ; oth- 
ers in the room of a female infant. At all events, the 
arch-chancellor, Cambaceres, could not have been mis- 
taken. The calumnie.s of the malignant were inex- 
haustible. It is, however, true, that the labour of 

* The 20th of March, 1811. 



28B MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Maria Louisa was horribly protracted ; that the ac- 
coucheur got bewildered ; that the child was concluded 
to be dead ; and that he was only recovered from his 
lethargy by the eifect of the repeated report of a hun- 
dred pieces of artillery. As to the emperor's trans- 
port, it was very natural. Some flatterers inferred 
from it, in the first instance, that Napoleon, more for- 
tunate than Caesar, would have nothing further to dread 
from the ides of March, since the 20th of March was 
distinguished as a day of good fortune both for himself 
and the empire. Napoleon believed in horoscopes and 
predictions. What a mistake was his calculation in 
March 1814 and 1815! 

He departed from Rambouillet with Maria Louisa 
towards the end of May, in order to visit Cherbourg. 
On their return to St. Cloud,* they presided at the bap- 
tism of their son, whom Napoleon, lifting in his arms, 
himself exhibited to the numerous assistants. All 
things seemed to conspire in announcing the most bril- 
liant destinies for this child ; three years sufficed to 
overthrow the colossal power of his father, — and yet 
the court, the great officers, the ministers, and the en- 
tire empire went on at that time in the most unpro- 
phetic security. There were scarcely to be discover- 
ed, even among thinking men, a sign or two of appre- 
hension and vague disquietude. 

Some few days afterwards,t Napoleon, opening the 
session of the legislative body, announced that the birth 
of the King of Rome had accomplished his wishes, and 
fulfilled the prayers of his people. He spoke of the 
incorporation of the Roman states, of Holland, of the 
Hanse towns, and of Valais ; and concluded by saying, 
that he flattered himself that the peace of the conti- 
nent would not be broken. France easily understood 
the purport of these last words, which were not drop- 
ped without a design of preparing the public mind for 

* The 4th of June, 1811. 
1 The 16th of June, 181J. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 289 

The ukase intended by the Emperor Alexander to 
extricate his empire out of the embarrassment in which 
the continental system retained it was made known to 
me. Russia could not renounce her maritime com- 
merce for a longer period. I, moreover, knew that the 
faction of the old Russians began to predominate in 
the councils of Alexander. The ukase confined the 
importation of merchandise to certain specified ports ; 
and among those which were subjected to tarif no arti- 
cle of French manufacture was found. I saw in that a 
retort for the arbitrary seizure of the Hanse towns. 

As to our commerce, compressed from day to day 
within our immediate limits, it only existed in land-car- 
riage ; we had no other vessels of burden than wag- 
gons and drays. The great reputation of our industry 
was, at that time, based upon the manufacture of sugar 
from beet-root. It was a lucky experiment for certain 
adventurers in the line of national industry, who thereby 
obtained from the government advance-money, premi- 
ums, and grants of land. The administration exhaust- 
ed its funds in these juggleries, the actors of which pro- 
mised us beet-root sugar at the same price as colonial. 
According to my Parisian correspondents, the emperor 
had already under a glass on his mantle-piece at St. 
Cloud a loaf of refined beet-root sugar, which would 
bear comparison with the best colonial sugar that ever 
issued from the warehouses of Orleans. It was so per- 
fect a specimen, that his minister of the interior had 
presented it to him with all the pomp which might 
correspond with a rarity worthy of figuring in a muse- 
um. Specimens of it were sent to the prince primate, 
and to all the little potentates of the confederation of 
the Rhine. If it was above the public reach, in con- 
sequence of its high price, it had, by Avay of compensa* 
tion, under its hand, syrup of raisins and indigenous cof- 
fee of Chicoree at a reasonable price. In the midst of 
this parsimony of colonial produce, some new manufac- 
tures flourished in the interior, and some hundred ma- 
37 



290 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

nufacturers, who shared In the distribution of prizes 
and premiums, loudly cried up the activity of our inter- 
nal commerce. 

All other commerce languished ; and, what was still 
more deplorable, the people began to suffer from dearth 
occasioned by a bad harvest, and aggravated by the 
extent of those exportations on which the government 
obtained a profit. To say the truth, indeed, in order 
to render misery less importunate, depots of mendicity 
were established in different parts of the empire, where 
one portion of the population was successively penned 
up, and provided for by means of economical soups. 
But the people who persevered in their panivorous pro- 
pensities, accused the emperor of selling our corn to 
the English. It is certain that the corn-monopoly ex- 
ercised by Napoleon partly contributed to produce the 
famine. The spirit which reigned in the salons was 
not more favourable to the emperor ; it was even be- 
coming hostile. Such was the manner in which public 
opinion was moulded since Savary directed it. 

That individual, who was dazzled by the pomp of 
rank and the illusion of outward circumstances, imagin- 
ed that he should arrive at a state of influence and 
power, if he possessed creatures, parasites, and literary 
men, marshalled at his table, and dragooned to his or- 
ders. He conceived that, in order to profit by my le- 
gacy, all that was necessary was to ingratiate the Fau- 
bourg Saint Germain^ without divesting his police of its 
odious and irritating qualifications. In a word, he 
thought it possible to form the public spirit of the em- 
pire, as Madame de Genlis formed the manner of the 
new court. It was then that the famous dejeuners a la 
fourchette were established, at which Savary presided, 
and at which all the hired jurists, who corresponded 
with the emperor, and all the journalists who aspired 
to receive orders and gratifications were to be found. 
It was there that Savary, animated by his camp habits 
of dictation, and by the incense of a plentiful breakfast, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 29i 

imparted commands to each of his guests as to the co- 
lour they should give to the Hterature of the week. 

The direction of this moral portion of the pohce was 
confided to the poet Esmenard, a writer of real talent, 
but in so much discredit, that I thought it necessary to 
keep the bridle constantly in his mouth, whenever I set 
him to work. Perverting in a short time the superiori- 
ty of his position to a bad account, he completely led 
the new minister by the nose, through the application 
of flattery to his passions and his absurdities. I had 
paid due respect to learning and to letters. JMy suc- 
cessor, in the very act of pretending to make himself a 
protector of the academies, treated them in a military 
manner, imposing his own creatures upon them as can- 
didates ; and appearing to have nothing more at heart 
than the desire of humiliating and scandalizing the or- 
gans of knowledge and of public opinion. I paid re- 
spect to the proprietorship of the journals ; Savary in- 
vaded its rights with audacity, and divided its shares 
among his familiars and agents. But in this manner, he 
deprived himself, in consequence of the degradation of 
the journals, of one of the principal levers of public 
opinion. It was in the same way that Napoleon took a 
dislike to Madame de Stael ; and in concert with the 
poet, Esmenard, did all he could to injure her ; an im- 
politic persecution, because he thus made of the nume- 
rous coteries of that celebrated woman, a hot-bed of 
opposition to the imperial regime, and of animosity to 
the emperor. 

In the upper police, there was the same system and 
the same violence ; and there little Desmarets was to 
be found acting the part of effective minister. What 
was to be expected from a man of such slender talents, 
and from the combinations of a minister of his descrip- 
tion? Awkward inventions, repulsive acts, and a vexa- 
tious practice. Some idea may be formed of it by the 
following example : a certain Baron de Kolly, a Pied- 
montese, who was commissioned by the British govern- 
ment to attempt the liberation of Ferdinand of Spain 



'292 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

fi-om his captivity, disembarked about the beginning of 
March, 1810, in Quiberon Bay; thence he proceeded 
to Paris, where 1 ordered him to be arrested and con- 
veyed to the chateau de Vincennes. What, forsooth, 
does my successor do ? He imagines a plan of trying 
Ferdinand's inchnations, by means of a false Baron de 
KoUy, supplied with the papers and the letter of credit 
belonging to the real emissary. Ferdinand the Seventh, 
was, however, upon his guard; he saw the snare, avoid- 
ed it, and left Savary to put the best face he could on 
bis defeat. 

The queen of Etruria, deprived of her states, lived 
at Nice, in exile, where she was shamefully treated; 
emissaries were sent to induce her to throw herself into 
the arms of the -English. This unhappy queen, driven 
to despair, embraced what appeared to her the only 
means of safety ; she was arrested and threatened to 
be carried before a military commission, and two of her 
officers were shot. When there is no conspiracy', a 
sham one is easily imagined, or a real one excited. It 
was in this manner that some unfortunate inhabitants of 
Toulon, said to be implicated in an obscure plot against 
our arsenals, were dragged to punishment in a city al- 
ready bleeding with the memory of its past afflictions. 

In the mean while, opinion remained mute. There 
was no more communication; no more confession; no 
more confidence among the citizens. It was only in the 
interior of the domestic circle, or in the bosom of friend- 
ship, that the public grief dared to express itself in 
stifled accents of affliction. In default of public opi- 
nion, the emperor wished to be supplied with that 
which emanated from the salons of Paris. A factitious 
opinion was manufactured expressly for his service, by 
the three hundred police spies, hired at large salaries. 
There were, in this manner, several statistical surveys 
of public feeling ; the five or six polices supplied theirs. 
The least insignificant was, beyond dispute, that of the 
director general of posts Lavalette. Already a corres-? 
pendent and confidential emissary of Napoleon, when he 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 293 

was only a general, he was aufait to all that was agree- 
able to him in this line. The emperor, who was soon 
enabled to appreciate what was wanting in these se- 
cret researches, the true spirit of which, no one but my- 
self had seized, demanded facts. These were furnish- 
ed; but miserable facts they were; and he concluded, 
either by rejecting or not reading them, so tiresome and 
incoherent did he find them. In my retreat, some of 
these bulletins, got up by the pupils of the police sys- 
tem, were brought to me. At a later period, Savary 
transcribed from one end to the other all that immedi- 
ately issued from his own cabinet, believing that he 
should by that means impart more importance to his 
vague discoveries. 

If from the moment of my disgrace, the police had 
degenerated in its most essential functions, it was the 
same with another public office, which was also the 
asylum of mystery. I allude to the office of foreign re- 
lations, where, since the resignation of M. de Talley- 
rand, the spirit of conquest, of violence, and oppression, 
were no longer repressed by moderation or restraint. 
Napoleon had fallen into the impolicy, and the conse- 
quences will be seen by and by, to disgust that person- 
age, so independent in mind, so brilliant in talent, and 
so practised and refined in his taste ; who, moreover, 
had by his diplomacy, done him at least as much ser- 
vice as I myself had been able to render him in the 
higher affairs of state, which concerned the security of 
his person. But Napoleon could never forgive Talley- 
rand, for having always spoken of the war in Spain with 
a disapproving freedom of speech. In a short time the 
salons and the boudoirs of Paris became the theatre of 
a secret warfare between the adherents of Napoleon on 
the one side, and of Talleyrand and his friends on the 
other — a war in which epigrams, and bons mots, consti- 
tuted the artillery, and in which the victor of Europe 
was almost always beaten. This species of satirical en^ 
counter contracted a more serious character, in propor- 
tjor) as the Spanish war grew more envenomed in its 



^94 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

progress. On their side, M. and Madame de Talley- 
rand only exhibited greater kindness to the princes of 
the house of Spain, banished to their chateau de Valen- 
cy, by a petty refinement of malice on the part of Na- 
poleon. His pique at Talleyrand's conduct continually 
augmenting, he one day perceived him at his levee m 
the midst of his courtiers, and hoping, in order to humi- 
liate him, to take advantage of an affair of gallantry 
alleged to have passed at Valency, he put a question to 
him which, to a husband, is considered as one of the 
greatest of insults. Without exhibiting any emotion in 
his countenance, Talleyrand replied in a dignified man- 
ner, " it would be well both for the glory of your ma- 
jesty and myself, if the princes of the house of Spain 
were never mentioned." Never did Napoleon display 
so much confusion as after receiving this severe lesson, 
which was couched in the most refined terms of polite- 
ness. All things shortly announced a complete disgrace, 
and the position of Talleyrand was gradually becoming 
more difficult. His hotel, his friends, and his servants, 
were given up to a perpetual espionnage, which Savary 
himself did not even affect to disguise. He boasted to 
his familiar partisans that he kept Talleyrand and 
Fouche in perpetual alarm. The public drew the infe- 
rence, that the chief magistrate, by means of his suspi- 
cious character, had deprived himself of the services of 
two men, whose advice would always have been bene- 
ficial ; and that there was not either in the police de- 
partment, or that of foreign affairs, sufficient modera- 
tion or ability from the moment of their quitting office. 
The police was nothing more than a fruitless and irri- 
tating inquisition. As to foreign affairs, people became 
accustomed to look upon treaties as hollow truces, or 
expedients calculated to lead to new wars. To such a 
pitch was this habit brought, that no one at last blushed 
at making the most scandalous avowals. "-We do not 
want principles," said Champagny-Cadore,who succeeded 
Talleyrand, and the same individual who had presided 
over the violence exercised on the person of the pope 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 295- 

and the princes of the house of Spain. Yet, neverthe- 
less, this same minister, when out of the diplomatic 
sphere, or rather beyond tlie influence of Napoleon, was 
one of the mildest men in France in deportment, and 
one of the most moderate in opinion. As it was no 
longer possible to maintain place, except by flatter- 
ing the passions of the individual who had the source of 
all power and favour, the monopolizers of imperial po- 
licy set themselves briskly to work, in order to accele- 
rate the fall of England and the humiliation of Russia. 
Memorials and projects followed each other under co- 
ver of the secret police of Desmarets and Savary, whose 
function it was to make themselves responsible for the 
daily muster-roll of projectors. The emperor no lon- 
ger received any reports but those in which the truth 
of facts and their consequences were either distorted or 
disguised; he no longer imbibed any information but 
such as was derived from impassioned correspondences, 
replete with proposals and projects of intrigues, adven- 
tures, and acts of violence. 

The idea was at length entertained of manceuvrino* 
England at the same time as Russia. I had endeavour- 
ed without effect, while I held the reins of the superior 
police, to calm the emperor down to more sober ideas 
respecting England. The emperor esteemed the En- 
glish, and had no especial dislike to England; but he 
feared the oligarchy of its government. It was his be- 
lief that England, under a system of this description, 
would never suffer him to enjoy a substantial peace, but 
only a truce of three years at the utmost, after which 
it would be necessary to begin again. I could never 
succeed in destroying the prejudices and misapprehen- 
sions of the emperor on this head. Other persons, by 
the coarsest sophistries, inflamed his ruling passion 
against the nature of the British constitution, a passion 
which plunged him once more into an universal war. 
It was a revolution in earnest which Bonaparte wished 
to effect in England ; he thirsted with a desire to stran- 
gle the liberty of the press, and the liberty of parlia- 



296 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

mentary discussion. Induced to wish for the moment 
when he could behold that island in her turn delivered 
up to the horrors of a political revolution, he sent en- 
voys there, who deceived him as to his actual condition. 
I told him a hundred times that England was as power- 
ful by the effect of her institutions as of her naval force; 
but he preferred believing the representations of inte- 
rested spies. It was in the hope of causing internal dis- 
sensions to explode, that, during the year 1811, he 
chiefly occupied himself with the project of entirely ex- 
cluding English commerce from the continent. His emis- 
saries did not fail to attribute the distress of the manu- 
factures in that kingdom to the continental blockade, as 
well as the numerous bankruptcies, which, during the 
course of that same year, struck deadly blows at the sta- 
bility of English credit. They announced the approxi- 
mation of serious tumults; and maintained that England 
could not much longer support a state of war, which 
cost her more than fifty millions sterling. 

In fact, tumultuous meetings of work-people without 
work broke out in Nottinghamshire. The mutineers 
assembled in organized bodies, burnt or destroyed the 
looms, and committed all kinds of excess. They de- 
scribed themselves to be under the orders of a Captain 
Ludd, an imaginary personage, whence they derived 
the name of Luddites. The emperor considered this 
in the light of a national wound, which it was his policy 
to enlarge like that of Ireland. In a short time, indeed, 
the system of insurrection extended its sphere of action, 
and involved the neighbouring counties of Derby and 
Leicester. It was affirmed in the cabinet of Napoleon, 
that persons of note were not strangers to the commo- 
tion, and were even its instigators. 

In case of serious insurrection, supported by corres- 
pondent movements matured in London, the co-opera- 
tion, more or less efficacious of our prisoners, who 
amounted to fifty thousand, was calculated upon. Such 
was one of the motives which influenced Napoleon in 
not consenting to their proposed exchange. As we had 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 297 

HO more than 10,000 English prisoners in France, but 
near 53,000 Spanish and Portuguese, the emperor feign- 
ed to consent to a cartel^ but only in the proportion of 
one Englishman and four Spaniards or Portuguese, 
against five Frenchmen or Italians. He was sure be- 
forehand, that England would reject an exchange found- 
ed upon this principle. In fact, the mere proposal was 
scouted bj the English ministry. 

Napoleon, who increased the rigour of his continental 
system, in proportion as he saw the distress of England 
increasing, exacted a more complete closing of the ports 
of Sweden, to which power he only left the choice be- 
tween war with England or with France. This impo- 
litic rigour, exhibited towards an independent power, 
proceeded in some degree from his discontent with 
Bernadotte, who had been proclaimed, the *year preced- 
ing, by the unanimous vote of the Swedish states, prince 
royal, and hereditary successor of King Charles XIII. 
This sudden elevation had not pleased Napoleon at the 
bottom of his heart, and his resentment against his old 
companion in arms had continually augmented from the 
period of the commission, which I had consigned to him 
in 1809, for the defence of Antwerp. Napoleon was 
persuaded that there was a secret intelligence between 
Bernadotte and myself at that time, and that if he had 
then experienced any striking reverse, I should have 
caused Bernadotte to be proclaimed either first consul or 
emperor, in order to close the gates of France against 
him for ever. It was on this account, on the other 
hand, that he saw him depart for the North, in the 
first instance, without regret, considering himself too 
happy to be delivered from the presence of a man, 
whom Savary, and his familiars, represented to him in 
the light of an adversary, and who might one day be- 
come formidable. Considering, moreover, for some 
months, that he should be able to retain him compul- 
sively within the orbit of his own politics, he addressed 

* The 21st of August, 1810. 
38 



298 aiEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

note upon note, and injunction upon injunction, to the 
government of Charles XIII., to induce it to keep its 
ports rigorously closed against English commerce. Ex- 
asperated that sufficient promptitude was not exhibited 
in accomplishing his views, he caused his privateers to 
seize such Swedish vessels as were loaded with colonial 
produce, and persevered in the occupation of Pomera- 
nia. Mutual complaints being thus engendered, Napo- 
leon gave new disquietude to the government, of which 
Bernadotte had become the hope and the arbiter. The 
whole of the year 1811 was spent in altercations be- 
tween the two states. 

The knowledge which I had of the character of Ber- 
nadotte gave me sufficient reason to foresee, that he 
would conclude by throwing himself into the arms of 
Russia, and of England; either to guarantee the inde- 
pendence of Sweden, or to secure his rights of inheri- 
tance to a crown of which Napoleon plainly revealed 
that he was envious. 

My old ties of connexion with the Prince of Sweden, 
imparted to the emperor (as misinterpreted by Savary) 
the idea that I secretly excited Bernadotte to maintain 
himself in an attitude of opposition to the cabinet of St. 
Cloud. I soon learnt, beyond the possibility of doubt, 
that I was spied upon, and that my letters were open- 
ed. And here I beg to ask what would be thought of 
me, if I had not put myself in a condition to counter- 
work the ridiculous investigations of a police, all the 
windings of which I was acquainted with? I was not, 
however, ignorant of what was passing at Stockholm, 

nor even in the North; I had Colonel V. C near 

the person of Bernadotte, who supplied me with all 
that was necessary to know. 

Let us conclude, by some reflections on the Peninsu- 
lar war, our sketch of the political events of J81], 
which will conduct us to the fatal expedition into Rus- 
sia. The resistance of the Spanish people had already 
assumed the character of a national war; and it was Na- 
poleon himself who had opened this field of battle on 
the continent for England's advantage. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 299 

Ever since the beginning of 1810, the war had be- 
come so complicated in Spain, it ah'eadj offered so ma- 
ny chances to the ambition and the rivahics of the 
various generals, that when King Joseph came to Pa- 
ris to attend the nuptials of the emperor, he made 
an express demand that all the troops should be with- 
drawn, or tliat they should be placed under hjs im- 
mediate orders, or rather under the direction of his 
major-general. The emperor took good care not to 
grant him the recal of the troops ; but he invested him 
with their command. Joseph accordingly took Avith 
him from Paris Marshal Jourdan, who bore the title of 
major-general to the King of Spain. The generals-in- 
chief were subjected to his orders, and were to hold 
themselves accountable to King Joseph, and to the em- 
peror at the same time. But these measures remedied 
nothing; there were always several armies, and the ge- 
nerals depending at once on Paris and Madrid, took 
precautions to depend upon neither j their first and 
principal object was to remain masters of the provinces 
which they occupied, or for which they were contend- 
ing with the enemy. 

In the meanwhile, we had been twice driven from 
Portugal, where the English army found infinite re- 
sources and a secure place of refuge. All things ought 
to have convinced Napoleon, that in order to subject 
the Peninsula, it was, in the first place, indispensable to 
effect the conquest of Lisbon, and compel the English 
to re-emburk. To this he had, in some sort, pledged 
himself in the face of Europe. But his genius was iij 
fault in this instance, as in many other decisive circum- 
stances, where the irritability and impetuosity of his 
character ought to have given way to a wide embrace 
of view, or at least to the most ordinary foresight. 
How could it have escaped his notice, that he was 
risking not only his Spanish conquest, but even his own 
fortune, in suffering a military and hostile reputation to 
establish itself in the Peninsula? Europe n ad a suffi- 
cient number of soldiers; all that she wanted was a 
general capable of guiding them, and of luaking a stand 



300 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

against the French array, no matter how. It is incre- 
dible how this view of the subject could have escaped 
the observation of JNapoleon. It was only through an 
access of confidence in himself and his good fortune. 
Willi the same fatuity, instead of marching in person 
at the head of a formidable army, to drive Wellington 
out of Portugal, (and this the state of the continent at 
that time permitted,) he sent Massena there, the most 
skilful, doubtless, of his lieutenants, an individual en- 
dowed with unusual courage and remarkable perseve- 
rance, whose talent grew with the increase of danger, 
and who, when vanquished, always appeared ready to 
re-commence the struggle as if he were the victor. 
But, Massena, v/ho was a daring depredator, was also 
the secret enemy of the emperor, who had compelled 
him to disgorge three millions of money. Like Soult, 
he indulged himself in the belief that he also might be 
enabled to win a crown at the point of the sword ; 
the exansples of Napoleon, of Murat, and of Berna- 
dotte, were, besides, so alluring, that Massena's mmd 
easily gave way to ambitious visions of reigning in his 
turn. Replete with hope, he began his march at the 
head of 60,000 soldiers ; but at the very outset of the 
first difficulties of the expedition, he received certain 
intelligence that the emperor was disposed to restore 
Portugal to the house of Braganza, provided England 
consented to his appropriation of Spain ; and that a 
secret negotiation was opened for that purpose. Mas- 
sena, piqued and discouraged, suffered the fire of his 
military genius to evaporate. Moreover, in an opera- 
tion so decisive as that he had undertaken, no one could 
supply Napoleon's place ; he alone could dare to sacri- 
fice from 30 to 40,000 men in order to carry the formi- 
dable lines of Torres Vfdras, which encompassed Lis- 
bon like an actual giidle of steel. Every thing was 
about to depend, nevertht^less, on the issue of this cam- 
paign of 1810, both with reference to Napoleon and to 
Europe. It shewed a real deficiency of tact and genius 
to have failed in perceiving this intimate co-relation. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 301 

What was the consequence ? The campaign failed ; 
Lord WeHington triumphed. Massena, faUing into dis- 
repute, returned to dance attendance in the saloons of 
the Tulleries, only obtaining, after a month's solicitation, 
a private audience, in which he detailed the reverses of 
the campaign; and, in short, the Peninsular war, not- 
withstanding many great exploits, exhibited, upon the 
whole, an alarming aspect. Suchel alone, in the eastern 
provinces, transmitted titles of incontestable glory to the 
French name ; he effected the conquest of the kingdom 
of Valencia, and was always equal to himself. While 
he thus rendered himself in other words independent, 
Soult, who was not able to make himself King ol' Por- 
tugal, enacted the part of King in Andalusia ; and Mar- 
mont, rallying the wrecks of the army of Portugal, 
acted for himself on the Douro and the Tormes ; in a 
word, the lieutenants of Bonaparte established distinct 
military governments, and Joseph was no more than a 
fictitious king. He could no longer quit Madrid without 
having: an army for his escort ; more than once he nar- 
rowly escaped being taken by the guerillas ; his king- 
dom was not his own ; the provinces which we occu- 
pied were, in reality, no more than French provinces, 
ruined by our armies, or devastated by the guerillas, 
who harassed us without intermission. I lay it down as 
a position, that all the reverses subsequent to those of 
the Peninsula, are attributable to the errors of the cam- 
paign of 1810, so falsely conceived, and so lightly under- 
taken. Towards the end of 1811, Joseph despatched 
the Marquess of Almenara, invested with full powers, 
to sign his formal abdication at Paris, or to obtain a 
recognition of the independence of Spain. But Napo- 
leon, diverting his whole attention towards Russia, post- 
poned his decision regarding Spain, till after the issue 
of the great and distant enterprise in which he was 
about to engulf himself beyond redemption. 

The Russian war was not a war undertaken for the 
sake of sugar and coffee, as the vulgar at first believed, 
but a war purely political. If the causes of it have 



302 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

never yet been accurately understood, it is because they 
are shrouded by the mysterious veil of diplomacy ; 
they could only be grasped by enlightened observers 
and practical statesmen. The seeds of the Russian 
war were enclosed even in the treaty of Tilsit. In 
order to prove this position, it will be sufficient for me 
to exhibit in this place a sketch of its immediate results. 
The foundation ot" the kingdom of Westphalia for the 
Napoleon dynasty ; the accession of the largest portion 
of the princes of the north of Germany to the confede- 
ration of the Rhine ; the erection of the duchy of 
Warsaw, w"hich was meant to be a nucleus for the entire 
re-establishment of Poland, a constantly variable bug* 
bear in the hands of its inventor, and. which he might 
direct as it best pleased him, either against Russia or 
against Austria; the re-establishment of the republic of 
Dantzic, of which the independence was guaranteed, 
but whose permanent subjection gave to Napoleon a 
port and a depot of arms on the Baltic ; finally, military 
roads secured to the French army across the Russian 
states, and which broke down every barrier interposed 
between France and the Russian frontiers ; — such were 
the conditions to which the Russian cabinet subscribed 
in exchange for eventual acquisitions in Turkey, which 
soon turned out to be illusory. It is true this was not 
the same with Finland. How, nevertheless, was it pos- 
sible to avoid confessing that if the Russian autocrat 
acknowledged an equal in Napoleon, he also recognised 
in him a conqueror, who, sooner or later, would reap 
the benefit of his advantages ? 

But, in the first instance, directing his ambitious views 
towards the south, Spain, Portugal, and Spanish Ame- 
rica became the immediate objects of his cupidity. 
Thence, the respite which a captious treaty offered to 
the Russian empire. Besides, Napoleon found little 
difficulty in fascinating the eyes of those whom he ca- 
ressed while he was concertino: their ruin. 1 had under- 
stood, in my process of time, how to look at his views 
upon Russia ; and, I confess, that seSuced myself by the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 303 

grandeur of his plans, I had once indulged in the hope 
of seeing the re-establishment of Poland founded upon 
the base of liberty ; but Napoleon, repelling Kosciusko, 
or, at least, endeavouring to draw him into a maze, I 
perceived that his only object was to extend his domi- 
nion beyond the Vistula, and the example of his ravages 
in Spain soon restored a greater degree of sobriety to 
my judgment. 

In fine, it was well understood that the Emperor 
Alexander, in order to preserve peace, found it neces- 
sary to temporize in all respects Avith Napoleon, his 
cabinet, his ministers, and his ambassadors; and that it 
was incumbent upon him not to deviate, in any respect, 
from the obligation of acknowledging his supremacy, 
and of obeying his will. 

While proceeding to the conquest of Spain, Napoleon 
had put the finishing hand to his federal system, and 
thus prepared the way to universal monarchy. The 
last defeat of Austria followed ; next the forced mar- 
riage of an arch-duchess, — and the change operated in 
the [)olicy of the latter power. All hope then vanished 
for the capacity of the European continent to shake off 
the yoke as long as the Emperor Alexander remained 
faithful to his alliance with the chief of the federal 
empire, already named, by w^ay of eminence, the great 
empire. But how was it possible to breathe in the 
neighbourhood of so oppressive an atmosphere of ambi- 
tion ? Russia already began to recognise that the infal- 
lible results of the continental system for every nation 
which submitted to it was the ruin of commerce and of 
industry, the establishment of excessive imposts, the 
burden of immense armies nearly foreign to their princes, 
and of princes incapable of protecting their trembling 
subjects from the gripe of the usurper of Europe. 

The Emperor Alexander, after three years of an 
ambiguous and burdensome alliance, at length opened 
his eyes. He found it was necessary to summon all 
the strength of his empire, in order to secure his inde- 
pendence. Instructed by his emissaries that the anti- 



304 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

French party, or that of the old Russians, began to pre- 
vail in the cabinet of St. Petersburgh, Napoleon return- 
ed, with regard to Russia, to his plan of 1805 and 1H06, 
which he had only at that time postponed with a view 
to the better maturing its eventual execution. 

This was his plan : to divide or abolish the Russian 
empire, or compel the Emperor Alexander to make a 
humiliating peace, followed by an alliance between Rus- 
sia, France, and Austria, the basis and the price of which 
were to be the restoration of Poland, and the dissolu- 
tion of the empire of the crescent. This was to be 
followed by the accession of all Europe to the continen- 
tal system, which, in the case of Bonaparte, was only 
another name for universal domination. 

But, in the first instance, it was indispensable to gain 
Kussia by intimidation, or otherwise to make a deadly 
war upon her, for the purpose of abrogating her power, 
or expelling her into Asia. Exertions were made at a 
distance to shake the fidelity of the Poles, by preparing 
their minds through the effects of mysterious negotia- 
tion. 

When Napoleon had determined that all the springs 
of his diplomacy should be put in motion towards the 
north, he changed his minister of foreign affairs, the 
complication of so many intrigues and manoeuvres be- 
coming too much, not indeed for the zeal, but for the 
energy, of Champagny-Cadore. Napoleon did not think 
himself secure in confiding the weight of affairs so im- 
portant to any other person than Maret, the chief of 
his secretariat^ — that is to say, all external afiairs were 
from that moment concentrated in the single focus of 
his cabinet, and received no other impulse than from 
him. Under this point of view, Maret, who was a true 
official machine, was the very man whom the emperor 
wanted. Without being a bad man, he really admired 
his master, all whose thoughts, secrets, and inclinations, 
he was acquainted with. He was, moreover, his confi- 
dential secretary, and the individual best acquainted 
with the art of connecting or transfusing into grammati- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 305 

cal phraseology his effusions and poliiieal imaginations. 
It Was, also, he who kept the secret register in which the 
emperor made his notes of such individuals of all coun- 
tries and parties who might be useful to him, as well as 
of men who were pointed out to his notice, and whose 
intentions he suspected. He also kept the tarif of all 
the pensioned courts and personages from one end of 
Europe to the other; in short, it was Maret who, for 
a long time past, had directed the emissaries of the ca- 
binet. Constantly devoted to the caprices of Napo- 
leon, and opposing nothing but the calmness of uncon- 
querable resignation to the violence of the emperor, it 
was in perfect good faith, and under the impression 
that he was following the line of his duty, that Maret 
unscrupulously lent himself to proceedings which at- 
tacked the security of the state. Never did it enter 
his mind to dispute the will of Napoleon ; he, there- 
fore, enjoyed a constantly-augmenting state of favour. 

These mysteries of the cabinet, the unusual tone of 
some of the notes in 1811, the indication of great pre- 
parations secretly set on foot, and manoeuvres and ex- 
ternal intrig'ues, awakened the attention of Russia. The 
Czar had already found that the time was come to pe- 
netrate Napoleon's projects and desiring to obtain some 
better guarantee than that of his ambassador, Kurakin, 
who was perfectly cajoled at St. Cloud, and himself a 
partisan of the continental system, he had despatched 
Count Czernitschetf to Paris, ever since the month of 
January, on a confidential mission. This young noble- 
man, who was colonel in a regiment of cossacks in the 
Russian imperial guard, attracted the notice of the 
court of Napoleon, on his first appearance, by his po- 
liteness and chivalrous deportment. He appeared in 
all circles, and at all festivals; and he obtained there, 
as well as among the highest ranks, so great a success, 
that he soon became the rage among all such ladies as 
contended for the empire of elegance and beauty. 

They all aspired to the homage of the amiable and 
brilliant envoy of the Russian emperor. For some time 

39 



306 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

he appeared fo be doubtful about his choice, but at 
length it was to the Duchess of R — that the Paris of 
the Neva gave the apple. This intrigue produced 
more stir, inasmuch as it was the enaperor, and not his 
minister of pohce, who first suspected that, under the 
mask of gallantry, under the exterior of amiable and 
showy accomplishments, the Russian envoy concealed 
a mission of political survey. Suspicions multiplied, 
when he was found to return upon a new mission, m a 
month after his departure. Confounded at the circum- 
stance of having been anticipated and forewarned by 
his master, Savary, in order to please him, commission- 
ed his factotum, Esmenard, to let fly some pointed, but 
underhanded, squibs at the Czar's emissary. The very 
evening previous to his arrival,* tlie semi-official scribe 
inserted, in the Journal de fEnipire, an article, which 
recorded the career of an officer named Bower, in the 
employ of Russia, whom Prince Potemkin commission- 
ed one while to hire a dancer at Paris; at another time 
to purchase hovtargue in Albania, water-melons in As- 
tracan, and grapes in the Crimea. The allusion was 
obvious. Czernitschefffelt himself insulted, and com- 
plained in common with his ambassador. The intention 
of Napoleon not being to hazard a rupture, he pretend- 
ed to be exasperated at a satire of which he had him- 
self supplied the idea ; and, by way of reparation, pro- 
nounced the ostensible disgrace of Esmenard, who was 
temporarily banished to Naples; though loaded at the 
same time with money and secret favours. These gifts 
were fatal to him ; he was two months aftert run away 
with by some over-spirited horses, which dashed him 
down a precipice on the road to Fondi, and the unfortu- 
nate man was killed by the fracture of his skull against 
a rock. 

Meantime, Napoleon and his ministers never ceased 
complaining at St. Petersburgh of the effect produced 
by the ukase of the 31st of December, which favoured 

* The nth of April, 1811. t The 25th of June, 1811. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 307 

the interest of England by permitting the introduction 
of colonial goods. The Paris Journals went so far as 
frequently to announce that English vessels were ad- 
mitted into Russian ports. From that time, all clear- 
sighted men felt convinced that a new rupture was in- 
evitable. It was well understood that the apparent 
causes of irritation merely served as disguises for polit- 
ical complaints, which had become the subject of ani- 
mated debates between the two empires. In the au- 
funm of 1811, the war was considered even in England 
to be imminent, and the cabinet of London was per- 
suaded that Napoleon could no longer send his armies 
in Spain the reinforcement which his brother Joseph- 
solicited. 

It was also from this epoch, an epoch vividly depicted 
on my memory, that by the sole medium of rumours and 
conjectures scattered through society, and repeated in 
all classes, public prepossession was created, accompa- 
nied by so eager a curiosity, which, during six or eight 
months, absorbing all the attention of the popular mind, 
concentrated it upon the immense enterprise which Na- 
poleon was about to undertake. I was so deeply inter- 
ested in its contemplation, that I was impressed with 
the most vehement desire of drawing nearer to the ca- 
pital. I hoped to be enabled to change ray relative 
position there, and by that means find myself in a con- 
dition to present to the emperor, while time remained, 
some observations calculated to make him abandon his 
resolution, or induce him to modify his projects ; for a 
secret presentiment seemed to warn me that he was in 
this case rushing on his destruction. 

Great difficulties, however, obstructed this design. 
In the first instance, I could not dissemble from myself 
that I had become an object of suspicion and disquie- 
tude to the emperor; I knew that an order to super- 
vise my conduct had been repeatedly given, but that 
the superior police had found itself so much at fault, as 
to be obliged to allege that my great distance and mode 
of life rendered all supervision abortive ; that, in a 



308 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

word, I evaded all kind of research with infinite adroit- 
ness. Upon this datum I founded my chance of success 
for the direct demand, which I addressed to the 
emperor, through the intervention of Duroc ; and I 
caused it very adroitly to be supported by the Count 
de Narbonne, who was at that time rising rapidly in 
favour. 

I alleged, that the climate of the South was par- 
ticularly prejudicial to my health ; that such was the 
opinion of my physicians ; that, moreover, a residence 
of some months at my estate of Pont-Carre was rend- 
ered indispensably necessary, by the interests of my 
family ; that I should experience great pleasure from 
being enabled to retire into seclusion, for which 1 had 
always entertained a decided predilection. I imme- 
diately received permission; but Duroc at the same 
time confidentially advised me to live at Ferrieres, in 
the greatest possible privacy, in order to give no cause 
of umbrage, especially as I had the police, as well as a 
great body of prejudice arrayed against me. I conse- 
quently changed my residence, but without display, and 
if I may so express myself, incognito. As soon as I ar- 
rived at Ferrieres, I began to live in seclusion, receiv- 
ing" nobody, and ostensibly occupying myself with no 
other care, than that of benefiting my health, educat- 
ing my children, and improving ray estate. It was ne- 
cessary to employ infinite caution, in order to receive 
from Paris, in the vicinity of which I now was, that 
secret information, a thirst for which I had now nursed 
into an invincible habit. Looking to the importance 
of the conjuncture, I soon perceived that nothing could 
be a sufficient substitute for those confidential conver- 
sations which I possessed the art of drawing out, with- 
out ever having an occasion to reproach myself with 
breach of confidence. But situated as I was, it was 
only by stealth, and at long intervals, that I was en- 
abled to obtain a few clandestine interviews with trusty 
and devoted persons. When this happened, they never 
gained access to me but without the knowledge of my 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 309 

people, by means of a small door, of which I myself 
possessed the key, and under cover of the shades of 
night. It was in a secret corner of my chateau that I 
received them, and where we ran no risk of being heard 
or surprised. 

Of all the individuals connected with the govern- 
ment, or composing a part of it, the estimable and 
worthy Malouet was the only one who possessed the 
courage to visit me openly and Avithout disguise. It 
was this which enabled me to appreciate all the n}erit 
of that valuable man. I was profoundly affected by^ 
thus seeing him defy authority, in order to extend a 
friendly hand to an ancient fellow-pupil and companion 
of his youth ;* and that, notwithstanding we had held 
opposite opinions in politics, and were even now dis- 
tinguished by strong shades of difference. He had al- 
w-ays been a prudent and moderate royalist, I had 
been an enthusiastical republigan. Alas ! what am I 
saying? However, Malouet had on this account enter- 
tained prejudices of too well-founded a description 
against me, on his return to France. Those prejudices 
were only dissipated when he was enabled to judge for 
himself, that I was a different man from what he had 
supposed, employing the vast power with which I was 
invested, for no other purpose than to disarm hostile 
passions, and heal the wounds of the revolution. He 
then did me justice, and concluded by the profession of 
an inviolable friendship. This flattering feeling, which 
he carried with him to the tomb, is, beyond a doubt, 
the most honourable pledge that 1 can offer either to 
my enemies or my friends. 

How deep and exquisite were our mutual moments 
of confidence ! Although divided by shades of opinion, 
we soon found ourselves united on the same ground ; 
surveying the encroachments of power with the same, 
eyes ; impressed with the same anxieties ; and con- 

* Fouche and M. Malouet had been fellow-students at the Ora- 
toire. — JVote by the French Editor. 



310 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

vinced that Europe was upon the eve of one of the 
most terrible social crises which had ever shaken the 
nations of the earth. The Russian war, now consider- 
ed inevitable, and the extravagant ambition of the 
chief magistrate, composed the text of our commenta- 
ries and reflections. I learnt from Malouet, that Na- 
poleon had proposed to the emperor of Russia, that 
the latter should invest his ambassador, Kourakin, with 
powers to enter into negotiations on the subject of the 
three points in dispute; namely, 1st, the ukase of the 
31st of December, which according to our cabinet, had 
annulled the treaty of Tilsit, and the conventions con- 
sequent upon it; 2nd, the protest of the Emperor 
Alexander, against the occupation of the duchy of Old- 
enburg, Russia having no right, according to our cabinet, 
to meddle with any thing that concerned a prince of 
the confederation of the Rhine ; 3rd, The order which 
Alexander had given his Moldavian army, to direct its 
march towards the frontiers of the duchy of Warsaw. 
But Alexander, whose eyes were already open to the 
consequences of his alliance with Napoleon, eluded the 
proposition : at the same time promising to send to 
Paris Count Nesselrode, who had superseded Count 
Romanzoff in his favour. 

On a full examination of the matter, we considered 
the point in dispute to be nothing but pleas, mutually 
put forward, in order to conceal the real question of 
state ; that question consisted in the power and rivalry 
of two empires, who had latterly become too proximate 
not to be induced to contend for the continental supre- 
macy. While he regarded as useless and abortive the 
representations which I proposed to make to Napoleon, 
on the subject of the danger of this new war, Malouet 
did not endeavour to dissuade me from the attempt ; on 
the contrary, he told me that it was a kind of protest 
which I owed to my country, to myself, and to the 
importance of the office I had filled ; and which it was 
proper to make for the exoneration of my conscience. 
I showed him my sketch, which he approved, remark- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 311 

ing to me, however, that I ought not to exhibit too 
much anxiety, since, as nothing official nor ostensible 
could be shown to occasion my solicitude, I should have 
the air of having intermeddled with a state secret ; that 
it depended en myself alone, to seize the opportune oc- 
casion, for Avhich, according to all probability, I should 
not have long to wait. We took leave of each other, 
and 1 resumed my task. 

The eaiperor, with a view to ingratiate himself with 
hh new subjects in Holland, departed in September, on 
a journey along the coast. On his return, he immedi- 
ately commenced occupying himself with his immense 
preparations for the Russian war. For form sake, 
soQie privy councils were held, at which none but the 
most servile instruments of power attended. Never 
had Napoleon exerted that power, materially or mo- 
rally, in a more despotic manner; — retaining his minis- 
ters and council of state in a condition of dependence 
upon him, by means of senatus consuUa, which emanat- 
ed from his cabinet ; dispensing with the legislative 
body, by means of the senate, and with both by means 
of the council of state which was entirely under his 
thumb. He, besides, never took the least heed of the 
advice of his ministers, and governed less by means of 
decrees submitted on their part to his approbation, than 
of acts secretly suggested to him by his correspondents, 
his private agents, and more frequently by his own im- 
pulses or impatience. It has been seen to what a de- 
gree flattery had obtained possession of his court, of his 
officers, of his ministers, and council. Panegyric had 
become so outrageous, that adoration was a matter of 
command, and from that moment it became a matter of 
disgrace. 

The rumours of the Russian war daily increasing in 
consistency, became, in consequence of the general fe- 
ver of the public mind, the subject of all conversation 
and all remark. At length the very acts of the go- 
vernment began to lift a corner of the veil. A se7iatu& 
eonsidtum of the 20th of December placed 120,000 men. 



312 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of the conscription of 1812, at its disposal. The ha- 
rangue of the government orator, and the report of the 
committee of the senate were not made public, and this 
fiH-nished additional motives for ascribing every thing 
to the approaching rupture. 

I had settled my ideas as to the amount of the dani- 
ger likely to result from a distant war, which would 
admit of no comparison with any other; I had nothing 
more to do, therefore, than to make a fair copy of my 
memorial, which it was now time to present. It was 
now divided into three sections. In the first, I treated 
of the unseasonable period selected for the Russian 
war, and I drew my principal inferences from the 
dangers which would result from undertaking it, at 
the very moment when the flames of war in Spain, n> 
stead of being extinguished, were daily augmenting in 
the violence of their conflagration. I proved by exam- 
ples, that it was a combination entirely adverse to the 
rules of policy established by conquering nations. In 
the second section, I treated of the difficulties inherent, 
if I may use the phrase, in the war itself ; and I de- 
duced my arguments from the nature of the country, 
and from the character of the inhabitants, considered 
under the double point of view of nobility and people. 
I did not omit to notice the character of the emperor 
himself, which I considered myself warranted in con- 
cluding to be falsely judged, or ill comprehended. Fi- 
nally, in the third and last section, I treated of the pro- 
bable consequences of the war, looking at them under 
the two hypotheses of a complete success, or an entire 
reverse. 

In the first case, I laid down, that the pretence of 
arriving at an universal monarchy through the conquest 
of an empire bordering upon China, was nothing but a 
magnificent chimera ; that from Moscow, the conque- 
ror would inevitably be drawn on to fall at first upon 
Constantinople, and thence to proceed to the Ganges, 
by the effect of the same irresistible impulse which had 
formerly impelled, beyond all the bounds of true state 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 313 

policy, Alexander the Macedonian ; and subsequently 
another still more profound and reflecting genius, name- 
ly, Julius Caesar, who, on the eve of undertaking his 
war against the Parthians, (the Russians of that peri- 
od,) indulged the frantic hope of making the tour of the 
world with his victorious legions. It may be easily per- 
ceived, that with this matter for my text, I could not 
sink beneath ray subject, with respect to general con- 
siderations. " Sire," said I to Napoleon, " you are now 
in possession of the finest monarchy upon earth ; is it 
your wish incessantly to enlarge its boundaries, in order 
to leave the inheritance of an interminable war to a 
weaker arm than your own ? The lessons of history 
repel the idea of an universal monarchy. Take care 
that too much confidence in your military genius do not 
induce you to overleap all the bounds of nature, and 
shock all the precepts of wisdom. 

" It is full time to pause. You have. Sire, reached 
that point of your career in which all that you have ac- 
quired is more valuable than all which additional ef- 
forts can add to your acquisitions. All new increase of 
your dominion, which already passes reasonable bounds, 
is associated with obvious danger, not only for France, 
overwhelmed, perhaps, as she may be said to be, under 
the weight of your conquests, but also for the well-un- 
derstood interest of your own glory and security. All 
that your power can gain in superficial extent will be 
lost in substantial value. Pause while you have the 
time ; enjoy, in short, the advantages of a destiny, which 
is, beyond a doubt, the most brilliant of all which in 
modern times the spirit of social order has permitted a 
bold imagination either to desire or possess. 

" And what empire is it which you seek to subject ? 
The Russian empire, which is enthroned upon the Pole, 
and supported by eternal snows; which is only assaila- 
ble during one quarter of the year; which offers to its 
assailants nothing but hardships, sufferings, and the pri- 
vations of a barren soil, and of a region universally be- 
numbed and dead ? It constitutes the true Anteus of 
40 



314 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

fable, over whom it was impossible to triumph, except 
by strangling him in the uplifted arms. What ! Sire, 
is it your intention to plunge into the depths of the mo- 
dern Scythia, Avithout heeding either the rigour and in- 
clemency of the climate, or the impoverishment of the 
country which it will be necessary to pass, nor the 
roads, lakes, and forests, which are sufficient to arrest 
your march; nor the enormous fatigue, and unmeasured 
dangers, which will exhaust your array, let it be as for- 
midable as it will ! True ; no force in the world, be- 
yond a doubt, can prevent you passing the Niemen, and 
plunging into the deserts and forests of Lithuania; but 
you will find the Dwina a much more difficult obstacle 
to surmount than the Niemen, and you will still be a 
hundred leagues distant from St. Petersburgh. There 
it will be requisite for you to choose between St. Pe- 
tersburgh and Moscow. What a balance of chances, 
just Heaven, will that be, which will decide the fate of 
your march to one or the other of those two capitals ! 
In one or the other will be found the destiny of the uni- 
verse. 

" Whatever may be your success, the Russians will 
dispute with you inch by inch these desert countries, in 
which you will find none of the necessaries of war. You 
must draw every thing from a distance of two hundred 
leagues. Whilst you will have to fight, perhaps, thirty 
battles, the half of your army will be employed in de- 
fending your lines of communication, weakened by ex- 
tension, and menaced and broken by clouds of cossacks. 
Take care, lest all your genius be unable to save your 
army, a prey to fatigue, hunger, want of clothing, and 
the severity of the climate ; take care, lest you be af- 
terwards compelled to fight between the Elbe and the 
Rhine. Sire, I conjure you in the name of France, for 
the sake of your, own glory, and of ours, replace your 
sword in its scabbard — think of Charles XII. It is true, 
that prince could not, like you, command two-thirds of 
continental Europe, together with an army of six hun- 
dred thousand men ; but on the other hand, the czar 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 315 

had not four hundred thousand men, and fifty thousand 
Cossacks. Perhaps you will say, his heart was of iron, 
while nature has bestowed the mildest character upon 
the Emperor Alexander ; but do not deceive yourself, 
mildness is not incompatible with firmness, especially 
when such vital interests are at stake. Besides, will 
you not have as opponents, his senate, the majority of 
the nobles, the imperial family, a fanatical people, hardy 
and warlike troops, and the intrigues of the cabinet of 
St. James' ? Even now, if Sweden escape you, it will be 
by the sole influence of British gold. Take care, lest 
that irreconcilable island should shake the fidelity of 
your allies ; take care. Sire, that your people do not 
reproach you with a mad ambition, and do not antici- 
pate too much the possibility of some great misfortune. 
Your power and glory have laid asleep many hostile. 
passions ; one unexpected reverse may shake all the 
foundations of your empire." 

This memoir being finished, 1 requested an audience 
of the emperor, and was introduced into his cabinet, at 
the Tuileries. He had scarcely perceived me, when 
assuming an easy manner ; " Here you are, Duke ; I 
know what brings you." "What, Sire !" " Yes, I know 
you have a memoir to lay before me." " It is not pos- 
sible." " Never mind ; I know it, give me the paper, 
I will read it ; 1 am not, however, ignorant that the 
Russian war is no more to your taste than the Spanish." 
" Sire, I do not think that the present war will be suc- 
cessful enough for us to fight without risk ; and at the 
same time, beyond the Pyrenees and the Niemen ; the 
desire and the necessity of seeing your majesty's power 
secured upon a lasting basis, have emboldened me to 
submit to your majesty some observations upon the pre- 
sent crisis." " There is no crisis ; the present is a war 
purely political ; you cannot judge of my position, nor 
of the general aspect of Europe. Since my marriage, 
the lion has been thought to sleep ; we shall see whe- 
ther he does or not. Spain will fall as soon as I have 
annihilated the English influence at St. Petersburgh ; I 



316 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

wanted eight hundred thousand men, and I have them. 
All Europe follows in my train, and Europe is no longer 

any thing but an old rotten w- , with whom I may 

do what I please, with my eight hundred thousand 
men. Did you not formerly tell me that you made ge- 
nius to consist in finding nothing impossible? Well, in 
six or eight months you shall see what plans upon a vast 
scale can effect, when united to a power that can exe- 
cute them. I am guided by the opinion of the array 
and the people rather than by yours, gentlemen, who 
are too rich, and who only tremble for me because you 
fear any sudden shock. Make yourselves easy ; regard 
the Russian war as dictated by good sense, and by a just 
view of the interests, the repose, and the tranquillity of 
all. Besides, how can I help it, if an excess of power 
leads me to assume the dictatorship of the world? 
Have not you contributed to it, you and so many others 
who blame me now, and who are anxious to make me a 
good sort of a king (roi debonnaire.) My destiny is not 
accomplished ; I must finish that which is but as yet 
sketched. We must have an European code, an Euro- 
pean court of cassation, the same coins, the same weights 
and measures, the same laws ; I must amalgamate all 
the people of Europe into one, and Paris must be the 
capital of the world. Such, my Lord Duke, is the only 
termination which suits my ideas. At present, you will 
not serve me well, because you imagine that all is again 
to be placed in doubt ; but, before twelvemonths are 
over, you will serve me with the same zeal and ardour 
as after the victories of Marengo and Austerlitz. You 
will see something superior to all that; and it is 1 Avho 
tell you so. Farewell, my Lord Duke; do not let it 
appear that you are either disgraced, or discontented, 
and place a little more confidence in your sovereign." 

I withdrew quite thunderstruck, after having made a 
profound bow to the emperor, who turned his back up- 
on me. Having recovered from the astonishment 1 felt 
at this singular conversation, I began to conjecture by 
what means the emperor could have been so exactly 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 317 

informed of the object of my proceedings. Not being 
able to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion, I hastened 
lo Malouet, supposing that, perhaps, some involuntary 
indiscretion on his part had put the high police, or one 
of the emperor's confidants, upon the scent. 1 explain- 
ed myself; but soon convinced by the protestations of 
the most upright man in the empire, that nothing had 
escaped him, I found the circumstance still more extra- 
ordinary, as I could not fix my suspicions upon a third 
person. How then could the emperor have learnt that 
it was my intention to present a memorial to him? 1 
was then subject to epiomiage at Rome ; suddenly a 
thought struck me; I recollected that one day a man 
had suddenly entered my room without giving my valet 
de chambre time to announce him, and had availed him- 
self of some specious pretext to keep me in conversation. 
After having weighed all the circumstances, I inferred 
that he was an emissary ; and upon a review of all that 
had taken place, my suspicions became still stronger. I 
ordered inquiries to be made, and learnt that this man, 

whose name was B , was a returned emigrant, who 

had purchased, near my chateau, a small estate, for 
which he had not yet paid; that he was mayor of his 
commune ; but was, to all appearance, an intriguer and 
an impostor. I procured some of his Avriting, and re- 
cognised it for that of a former agent, commissioned at 
London to be a spy upon the Bourbons, the emigrants 
of rank, and the Chouans. I had his number of corres- 
pondence ; and this datum enabled me to set the bureaux 
at work respecting this worthy gentleman. One of my 
former confidential agents undertook to come at the 
fact; and succeeded. The affair was as follows: 

Savary, having been ordered by the emperor to in- 
form him how the ex-minister Fouche was enoao-ed in 
his chateau of Ferrieres, presented a first report, an- 
nouncing that he was under the surveillance of an agent 
sufficiently qualified to fulfil the intentions of his majes- 
ty. He, however, remarked to the emperor that the 
investigation was of a very delicate nature, the ex-minis- 



318 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ter being invisible to all strangers, in person, not even 
the country people having access into the chateau. 
After some research, Savary cast his eyes upon the 

Sieur B . Having sent for this man, who is tall, 

w^ell made, of pleasing manners, and an insinuating cha- 
racter, cunning, adroit, possessing great volubility, and 
an imperturbable assurance ; he said to him, " Sir, you 
arc mayor of your commune ; you know the Duke of 
Otranto, or, at least, you have been in correspondence 
with him, and you must be able to form some idea of 
his character and habits ; you must give me an account 
of what he is doing at Ferrieres ; this information is 
absolutely indispensable, for the emperor requires it.'* 

" My Lord," answered B , " you have given me a 

commission extremely difficult to execute; I consider it 
as almost impossible. You know the man; he is mis- 
trustful, suspicious, and constantly on his guard ; besides, 
he is inaccessible; by what means, or under what pre- 
text can I gain an entrance into his house ? Indeed, I 
cannot." — " It does not signify," answered the minister, 
" this commission, to which the emperor attaches great 
importance, must be executed; I expect you will pro- 
cure me this intelligence, as a proof of your devotion 
to the person of the emperor. Go, and do not return 
without having accomplished your object ; I allow you 
a fortnight." 

B , in the greatest embarrassment, ran about, 

making inquiries, and found, through an indirect chan- 
nel, that one of my farmers was prosecuted by my stew- 
ard for large arrears of rent. He went to see him, 
and pretending to be extremely interested for him, ob- 
tained from him the documents relative to the aifair. 
Furnished with these papers, he took a cabriolet, and 
with a face of great concern, presented himself at the 
gate of my chateau, announcing himself as the mayor of 
a neighbouring commune, who had taken a great inte- 
rest in an unfortunate family unjustly prosecuted. Be- 
ing first stopped at the gate, he easily talked over my 
porter, who allowed him to reach the grand steps. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 319 

There my valet de chambre refused to let him enter mj 
apartment. Without, however, being disheartened, 

B begged, solicited, and entreated so earnestly, 

that at last he prevailed upon the valet de chambre to 
announce him ; but, at the moment when the valet was 
opening my room, he pushed him on one side and en- 
tered ; 1 was at my writing-desk with my pen in my 
hand. 

The sudden entrance of a stranger surprised me ; I 
asked him what was his pleasure : " My Lord," said 

B -, " I am come to solicit from you a favour, an act 

of justice, and humanity the most urgent; I am come to 
entreat you to save an unhappy father of a family from 
total ruin;" and here he employed all his rhetoric to in- 
terest me in favour of his client, and explained the 
whole affair to me in the clearest manner possible. 
After a moment's hesitation, I rose and proceeded to 
search in a portfolio for the papers relative to my farms. 
Whilst, my back being turned, I was searching for the 
documents, B , still speaking on, succeeded in deci- 
phering a few lines of my writing; and what particular- 
ly struck him were the initials, V. M. I. et R. ; he im- 
mediately inferred that I was preparing a memorial to 
be presented to his majesty. Upon returning to my 
desk, after two or three minutes search, and persuaded 
by the fine speeches of the man, I settled the affair with 
him in favour of his client, with the utmost simplicity ; 
and wished him adieu, expressing my thanks to him 
for having given me an opportunity of performing a 

praise-worthy action. B left me, and immediately 

proceeded to Savary, to whom he related the success 
of his undertaking, and Savary immediately hastened to 
make his report to the emperor. I confess that when 
made acquainted with the details of this piece of mysti- 
fication I was extremely chagrined. I could scarcely 
forgive myself at having been thus duped by a scoun- 
drel, who for a long time had sent me secret intelli- 
gence from London, and in whose favour I advanced an- 
nually a sum of twenty thousand francs. It will be seen 



320 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

later* that I did not allow mjself to be actuated by too 
great resentment. 

Although this was a wretched intrigue, I yet derived 
from it an advantageous position which gave me more 
security and confidence, by making me persevere in my 
system of circumspection and reserve. It was evident 
that a great part of Napoleon's suspicions respecting me 
was dissipated, and that I had no longer any reason to 
apprehend, at the moment that he was about to pene- 
trate into Russia, being made the object of any inquisi- 
torial and vexatious n)easure. I knew, that in a cabi- 
net council, to which the emperor had only summoned 
Berthier, Cambaceres, and Duroc, the question had 
heen discussed whether it would be advantageous to 
make sure, either by arrest or severe banishment, of 
M. de Talleyrand and me ; and that, upon mature con- 
sideration, the idea of this coup d'etat had been rejected 
as impolitic and useless ; impolitic, inasmuch as it would 
have shaken public confidence too much, and aroused 
apprehensions for the future in the minds of the high 
officers and dignitaries of the state ; useless, because no 
act or deed could be laid to our charge as a motive for 
such a measure. Engaged, moreover, in the prepara- 
tions for the expedition into Russia, the government ex- 
perienced uneasiness more real, and disappointments 
more distressing. France was daily suffering more and 
more from a scarcity of corn. Risings had taken place 
in several places; these had been repressed by force, 
and military commissions had condemned to be shot 
many unfortunate wretches who had been urged on by 
despair. It was not without feelings of horror the pub- 
lic ascertained that, among the victims of these bloody 
executions, a woman in the town of Caen had been in- 
cluded. 

It became, however, necessary to withdraw a part of 
the veil which concealed the mystery of the vast hos- 
tile preparations, of which all the north of Germany 

* In 1815. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 321 

was already the theatre. An extraordinary meeting of 
the senate was ordered, for the purpose of receiving 
the communication of the two reports which it was de- 
termined should be presented to the emperor ; the one 
by the minister for foreign affairs, the other by the mi- 
nister at war. The sole object of this farce, at once 
warlike and diplomatic, was to obtain a levy of such 
men as had escaped the conscription, and the formation 
of cohorts of the first ban, according to a new organiza- 
tion of the national guard, which, divided into three 
bans or three classes the immense majority of our male 
population. 

There was no exaggeration this time in considering 
France as one vast camp, whence our phalanxes march- 
ed, from all parts, upon Europe as upon a prey. In 
order to colour this levy of those classes which had 
been free from the conscription, fresh motives and new 
pretexts were necessary, since it was not desirable at 
present to reveal the true motives of such extraordina- 
ry measures. Maret spoke to the senate of the neces* 
sity of compelling England to acknowledge the mari- 
time rights established by the stipulations of the treaty 
of Utrecht — stipulations which France abandoned at 
Amiens. But the levy of the first ban of the national 
guards was granted by a senatus-consultum, and a hun- 
dred cohorts were placed at the disposal of the govern- 
ment ; we membeio of the senate evinced admirable 
docility and subserviency. At the same time two trea- 
ties of alliance and reciprocal assistance were signed 
with Prussia and Austria. All doubt was now removed. 
Napoleon was about to attack Russia, not only with his 
own forces, but also with those of Germany, and of all 
the petty sovereigns who could no longer move out of 
the orbit of his power. 

War was fully decided upon, when the emperor 
caused his confidential minister to open fresh negotia- 
tions with London ; but these proposals not only came 
late, but were made without any ability. Some per- 
sons, who were in the secret of every intrigue, assured 
41 



322 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

me at this time that the cabinet employed this clumsy 
expedient, in concert with the principal Russians of the 
French party ; seeing themselves on the eve of being 
expelled from the councils of St. Petersburgh, they ima- 
gined that the Emperor Alexander, alarmed at the idea 
of the possibility of an arrangement between France 
and England, would re-enter the continental system to 
prevent his being isolated, and that he would once 
more submit to Napoleon's will. But however this may 
be, Maret wrote to Lord Castlereagh a letter contain- 
ing the following propositions: — To renounce all exten- 
sion of territory on the side of the Pyrenees, to declare 
the actual dynasty of Spain independent, and to guaran- 
tee the independence of that monarchy, to guarantee 
to the house of Braganza the independence and integri- 
ty of Portugal, as well as the kingdom of Naples to 
Joachim, and the kingdom of Sicily to Ferdinand IV. ; 
as to the other objects of discussion, our cabinet pro- 
posed to negotiate them upon this basis, that each 
power should keep what the other could not wrest 
from it by the war. Lord Castlereagh replied that if, 
by the actual dynasty of Spain, the brother of the chief 
of the French government was meant, he was com- 
manded by his sovereign to declare candidly, that he 
could not receive any proposals of peace founded upon 
that basis. Here the matter dropt. Ashamed of its over- 
tures, our cabinet, whose only object was to have drawn 
Russia into some act of weakness, perceived too late 
that it had impressed upon our diplomacy a character 
of fickleness, bad faith, and ignorance. As all was trans- 
acted in the utmost secrecy, what most puzzled the po- 
liticians was, that in France, and even in Russia, the ex- 
terior forms of amity were kept up amid the immense 
preparations. The Emperor Alexander's ambassador 
was still at Paris, while Napoleon had his at St. Peters- 
burgh; nor was this all. Alexander had his confidential 
diplomatist. Count Czernitscheff, resident in the French 
capital. This amiable Russian, in the midst of the dis- 
sipations of a brilliant court, and the mysteries of more 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 323 

than one amorous intrigue purposely ill-managed, did 
not neglect a secret commission of the highest import- 
ance to his master. Seconded by women, some of 
whom were stimulated by love, and others by a spirit 
of intrigue, he managed his plans so as to discover Na- 
poleon's real intentions of invading Russia. Suspicion 
having been raised as to the secret object of his mission, 
he was watched and placed under surveillance, but all 
to no purpose. At length, Savary sent to him a per- 
son attached to the police, who gave him some false in- 
formation, and drew from him in return some fresh 
indications which increased the suspicion already 
indulged. But, favoured by his gallant connexions, 
Czernitscheff was warned in time"; he avoided the snare, 
insulted the spy, and went to Marei to complain of hav- 
ing been subjected to such revolting proceedings. That 
very day, the emperor having been informed of the 
subject of his complaint, determined upon communicat- 
ing to him the secret accounts which inculpated him. 
Czernitscheff came out triumphant from this ordeal, by 
giving an explanation of his conduct, and uf the cause of 
his complaints. The police received formal orders to 
take off the surveillance. Being thus at liberty to con- 
tinue his investigations, he succeeded in executing the 
object of his mission. He was particularly anxious to 
procure the lists of the intended movements of the 
French army; these he obtained through the medium 
of a clerk belonging to the Bureau des Mouvemens, nam- 
ed Michel. An oversight of this person who thus be- 
trayed the secret of the emperor's operations, having 
awakened some suspicions, he was arrested. Czernits- 
cheff was immediately informed of it, and left Paris 
with the greatest precipitation, carrying off with him 
some most important documents. In vain Avas a tele- 
graph order given to seize his person; he had got the 
start by five or six hours, and this advantage was suffi- 
cient to enable him to cross the Rhine. He had just 
passed the bridge of Kehl, when the telegraphic order 
for his arrest reached Strasburgh. 

His precipitate flight from Paris prevented him from 



324 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

burning his secret correspondence, which it was his cus- 
tom to conceal under the carpet of his room ; and as 
the latter was necessarily the object of minute search, 
the police agents discovered the papers of CzernitschefF. 
The first thing found in them was the proof that a 
great intimacy had been kept up between this Russian 
nobleman and several ladies of Napoleon's court, 

amongst others the Duchess of R . She, however, 

it is said, exculpated herself by alleging that she had 
acted in concert with her husband, to endeavour to as- 
certain the secret object of CzernitschefF's mission. 
Among the papers discovered, was also a letter in Mi- 
chel's hand-writing ; so convincing a proof of his guilt 
sealed his fate, — he expiated his treason with his life. 
This affair brought to light a very singular fact, viz., 
that the Russian cabinet had foreseen, even from the 
epoch of the interview at Erfurt, the possibility of a 
rupture with France. It was then that Romanzoff 
said, in order to justify his complaisant policy, and with 
reference to Napoleon : We must wear him out (Jlfaut 
Vuser.) 

The circumstances of Czernitscheff's flight, which 
was soon known in the saloons, made considerable noise, 
and accelerated the rupture. The emperor, whose de- 
parture was determined upon, anxious to obtain some 
popularity, visited the different quarters of Paris, exam- 
ining the public works, and acting little preconcerted 
scenes, either with the prefect of Paris, or the prefect 
of police, Pasquier. He also Avent frequently to the 
chase, affecting to appear more occupied with his plea- 
sures than with the vast enterprise he had engaged in. 
I saw him at St. Cloud, whither I went to pay my re- 
spects to him, without any intention of soliciting or ob- 
taining an audience. The mournful aspect of that 
court, and the anxious looks of the courtiers, appeared 
to me to form a strong contrast with the confidence of 
the emperor. He had never enjoyed such perfect 
health ; never had 1 seen his features, formed after the 
antique, lighted up with a greater glow of mental vi- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 325 

gour, of greater confidence in himself, founded on a 
deep conviction of his prodigious power. I experienc- 
ed a feehng of involuntary melancholy, which I should 
have been unable to define, had not the most gloomy 
presentiments taken possession of my mind. 

In the mean time the cabinet of St. Petersburgh, 
whether its real intention was to employ every possible 
means of reconciliation, compatible with the indepen- 
dence of the Russian empire, or whether it had only 
the view of obtaining some certain information respect- 
ing the true intentions of Napoleon, ordered prince Kou* 
rakin to make known to the French government the 
bases of an arrangement, which his sovereign was will- 
ing to accede to. These were the deliverance of jprus- 
sia, a reduction of the garrison of Dantzic, and the eva- 
cuation of Swedish Pomerania ; upon these conditions, the 
Czar engaged to make no change whatever in the mea- 
sures prohibiting a direct trade with England, and to 
concert with France a system of licenses to be granted 
in Russia. 

Kourakin's note remained unanswered for a fortnight. 
At length, on the 9th of May, the day of the emperor's 
departure for Germany, Maret asked Kourakin if he 
had full powers for treating; Kourakin replied, that 
the character of ambassador, with which he was invest- 
ed, should be considered as sufficient. Being only able 
to obtain evasive and dilatory answers, he demanded his 
passports, which were refused him under various pre- 
tences. It was not till the 20th of June they were 
sent him from Thorn, an artifice, the object of which was 
to allow Napoleon time to cross the Niemen with all his 
forces, in order to surprise his august adversary at Wil- 
na, before he could receive the least intelligence from 
his ambassador. 

The die was cast'; the Niemen was crossed by six 
hundred thousand men, by the finest and most formida- 
ble army every assembled by any conqueror of the 
earth. We will now leave Napoleon, — we will leave 
this illustrious madman to rush on to his ruin : it is not 
his military history I am relating. 



326 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Let us ascertain the state of public opinion, at the 
moment when traversing Germany, and stopping at 
Dresden, he riveted upon himself the anxious regards 
of twenty nations. Let us first see what was thought 
of him in the saloons of Paris, those very saloons for 
whose good opinion he was so anxious; prayers were 
there put up for his humiliation, and even for his fall, 
so much did his aggression appear the effect of a mad 
ambition. In the middling and lower classes, the public 
disposition was not more favourable to him. The dis- 
content, however, had nothing of hostility in it. The 
genera! wish was only to save Napoleon from his own 
follies, and to restrain him within the bounds of mode- 
ration and justice. 

Some persons have imagined that an organized resis- 
tance on the part of his marshals and the army would 
have succeeded in ruling his will, and eventually in ob- 
taining the mastery over him. But such persons could 
understand but little the fascinations of a military life, 
and the manners of a camp. I have had the means of 
being convinced that not the least political idea calcu- 
lated to guarantee us from the abuses of victory, or 
from the dangers of a reverse, ever proceeded from 
the brains of any discontented general. 

There was, moreover, at the bottom of all this spirit 
of disapprobation, a feeling superior to it ; that of 
anxious expectation, and intense curiosity respecting the 
issue of the vast expedition of the extraordinary man 
whose ambition devoured whole ages. It was generally 
admitted that he would remain conqueror and master 
of the field. 

As to politicians, by taking into consideration the 
destruction of Poland on the one hand, and the encroach- 
ments of the revolution on the other, they saw Germany 
destroyed by two vast irruptions ; that of the French 
from the west, and the Russians from the east. It was 
these latter that Napoleon wished to drive back upon 
the Polar ices, or into the Steppes of Asia. This man, 
who drew after him one half of the military population 



MEMOIRS OF FOtJCHE. 327 

of Europe, and whose orders were implicitly executed 
in the space comprehended within nineteen degrees of 
latitude, and thirty degrees of longitude, — this man, 
who had now set foot on Russian ground, was about to 
risk his own fate, and the existence of France. 

Upon advancing beyond the Niemen, and proclaiming 
war, he exclaimed, with an affectation of prophetic 
inspiration — " The Russians are urged on by fate — let 
the destinies be accomplished !" His adversary, who 
cared not to await him at Wilna, more calm, recom- 
mends to his people to defend their country and their 
liberty. What a contrast between the two nations^ 
between these two adversaries and their language. 

At first, the forced retreat of the Russians, who 
being the weakest and least inured to war, endeavoured 
to avoid the rencontre, and the devastation of the coun- 
try which they systematically effected, were considered 
as two grand measures, the result of a plan precon- 
certed for the purpose of drawing Napoleon into the 
heart of the empire. 

But the imagination soon took the alarm, when, after 
a furious combat, Napoleon, against the advice of the 
majority of his marshals, and in contempt of a kind of 
engagement he had entered into at Paris with his coun- 
cil, left in his rear Smolensk o, the only bulwark of Rus- 
sia on the frontiers of Poland. The public anxiety was 
still further increased, when he was seen advancing, 
without the least hesitation, on the line of Moscow, 
braving all the chances of war, and equally regardless 
of the character of his enemies, the disposition of Europe 
impatient of her yoke, the season, the distance, and the 
severity of the climate. 

Inflated with gaining the most sanguinary battle of 
modern times, a battle in which a hundred thousand 
soldiers were victims to the ambition of one man,* and 
not in the least affected by the miserable and wretched 

* The battle of the Moskowa or Borodino, fought on the 7th of 
September, at twenty-five Jeagues in advance of Moscow. — Editor'^s 
note. 



328 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

appearance of his bivouacs ; Napoleon imagined that he 
could, at length, effect the destruction of a vast and 
powerful empire, as he formerly accomplished the in- 
stantaneous fall of the republics of Geneva, Venice, and 
Lucca. 

The Russians had retreated, armed with torches ; 
they had burnt Smolensko, Dorigobni, Viazma, Ghjat, 
and Mojaisk, and yet he imagined they would spare 
him Moscow. The conflagration of this fine capital, 
while it undeceived Napoleon too late, enlightened 
France with its ill-omened flames ; the sensation was 
deep. It was now, alas ! tliat I saw all my presenti- 
ments realized ; 1 perceived its object ; that of depriv- 
ing the victor of a pledge, and the vanquished of a 
motive, for concluding peace. 

How did Napoleon act upon witnessing this grand 
national sacrifice? He encamped for forty days on the 
ashes of Moscow, contemplating his vain conquest, not 
doubting his ability to conclude the campaign by nego- 
tiations, and never even suspecting that two Russian 
armies, the one from the Livonian Gulf, the other from 
Moldavia, had been ordered to effect a junction at 
Borisow, a place one hundred leagues in his rear. He 
was ignorant, perhaps, that Russia, without a single ally 
at the commencement of the campaign, had just signed, 
one after the other, three defensive treaties; with 
Sweden, England, and the Regency of Cadiz. 

In the interval, the interview at Abo, between the 
Emperor Alexander and Bernadotte, in presence of 
Lord Cathcart, took place — an interview at which the 
first appeal was made to Moreau, whom it was desired 
to oppose to his persecutor, to him who was now desig- 
nated the oppressor of Europe. The ruins of Moscow 
had been abandoned to Napoleon, who could not at all 
comprehend a system of warfare completely in opposi- 
tion to his principles of strategy. For twenty-two days 
he awaited a suppliant message from the Russian 
emperor, whose cabinet kept in play his prolocutors and 
negotiators. Naooleon was as blind at Moscow as in 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 329 

Spain. Prudent measures smacked too much of method- 
ical arrangement, which he utterly detested. 

At length, he commenced his retreat, but not till the 
death-bell of his power had tolled; he commenced his 
retreat, and on the very day of his tardy evacuation of 
Moscow, the 13th of October, the Malet conspiracy, so 
humiliating for the emperor, for his adherents, and his 
police, burst out ; a conspiracy which had nearly cost 
him his empire, from the wish of gratifying his vanity 
in dating a few decrees from Moscow. The Malet 
conspiracy has never been well understood ; — Malet 
"was^not a mad, but a bold man. 

Little known as a general, he was at first compro- 
mised in 1802, in the Senate conspiracy, as it was called, 
of which Bernadotte was the mover, Madame de Stael 
the centre, and himself the principal agent ; a conspiracy 
in which 1 was myself denounced as an accomplice by 
Dubois, the prefect of police. It being expected that 
Malet should be the scape-goat he was thrown into 
prison. Upon being restored to liberty by the amnesty 
granted on the occasion of the coronation, he was 
employed in 1805 in the army of Italy; and, upon his 
return, was engaged in fresh plots against the emperor, 
involving at one time Brune, at another Massena ; at 
length, in 1808, he was imprisoned in the castle of Vin- 
cennes. It was in the gloom of this prison that he 
hatched his double conspiracy, which was to rally the 
disaffected of every party against the emperor's govern- 
ment. The whole of this plot, however, was not the 
offspring of Malet's brain.* Its conception belonged to 
the royalists, its execution to the republicans. In fact, 
success was impossible without the agreement of two 
opposite opinions, which were cemented by a hatred 
common to both, and a mutual necessity of overthrowing 
the oppressor in order to restore public liberty. All 
was favourable to the conspirators engaged in the boldest 
of enterprises. From the instant that the mode of 

* This deserves attention. — Editor's note. 
42 



330 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

execution depended only upon one man, and that man 
was decided, full of resolution and courage, there was 
every reason to calculate upon the probability of suc- 
cess. The rest was left to chance. Let us see what 
this was; and, first, let us consider into what hands the 
power was delegated in the emperor's absence. It is 
certain that the arch-chancellor, Cambaceres, was the 
depositary of it ; a weak and vicious man, and a true 
sycophant. Among the ministers, one alone prided 
himself upon being at the head of the police, which, for 
him remained mute as to any discoveries ; but this man, 
a headstrong officer of gendarmerie, was a mere cipher 
in politics and state aifairs. Next on the list was 
Pasquier, prefect of police, an excellent magistrate in 
all that regarded mud and lanterns, in regulating the 
police of the markets, gambling-houses, and prostitutes, 
but without intelligence, extremely verbose, and entirely 
devoid of tact and investigation. So much for the civil 
power. 

We will now proceed to the military : the strength 
of the sword was intrusted to Hullin, commander of 
Paris, a dull, heavy soldier, but firm, although equally 
stupid and awkward in politics as the others. Let it 
also be observed, that the exercise of authority having 
become for the principal functionaries a kind of mecha 
nism they perceived beyond that nothing but passive 
obedience ; that the Empress Maria-Louisa resided at 
St. Cloud ; that, at this time, in the garrison of Paris, 
there were none of those old fanatical troops, who, in 
the name of the emperor, would have carried fire and 
sword everywhere ; that they had been replaced by 
cohorts recently organized, the greater part of which 
were commanded by old patriotic officers ; and, lastly, 
that the anxiety respecting the event of the Muscovite 
expedition, began to make the high functionaries ap- 
prehensive for their security. It is evident, therefore, 
that Paris, in this state of things would, by an ably di- 
rected and vigorous coup de main, remain in possession 
of the first that seized it. Tiic immense distance of the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 331 

emperor, the irrej^nlarlty and frequent interruption of 
the couriers, by increasing the anxiety and preparing 
the public mind, threw all the chances in favour of the 
person who should be daring enough to take advantage 
of a momentary stupor and alarm. The emperor is 
dead; the abolishment of the imperial government by 
a senatorial decree, and the establishment of a provis- 
ionary one, were the pivot of the conspiracy, of which 
the mover and the head was Malet. He had himself 
drawn up the senatus-consuUum, decreeing the abolition 
of the imperial government. 

But, it may be said, you see there was no decree of 
the senate, there Avas no provisionary government, the 
emperor was full of life and vigour, and the conspiracy 
was only founded in a fiction. Besides, how could Ma- 
let have accomplished it, supposing even that he had 
remained master of Paris. 

It is true, there was no decree of the senate, but is 
it equally certain, that there was not in the senate a nu-^ 
cleus of opposition, which might have been made to 
act according to circumstances ! I will suppose the fact, 
that, out of one hundred and thirty senators, nearly 
sixty,* who were generally guided by M.de Talleyrand, 
M. de Semonville, and me, would have seconded any re- 
solution which should have a salutary object, upon the 
mere manifestation of the junction of this triple influ^ 
ence. Now, such a coalition was neither improbable, 
nor impracticable. 

This possibility explains the creation of an eventual 
provisional government composed of Messrs. Mathieu 
de Montmorency, Alexis de Noailles, General Moreau, 
Count Frochot, prefect of the Seine, and a fifth not 
named. This fifth person was M. de Talleyrand, and I 
myself was to fill the place of Moreau during his ab- 

* The same, no doubt, who eighteen months after, on the 2d of 
April, 1814, had the courage, protected by two hundred thousand 
bayonets, to declare Napoleon /aZ/Bn/rom the throne. — Note of the 
Editor. 



332 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

sence, whose name had been introduced either to satisfy, 
or divide the army. 

As to Ma!et, a mere instrument, he would voluntari- 
ly have resigned the command of Paris to Massena, 
who as well as myself, lived at that time in retirement 
and disgrace. 

But answer, it may be said, this last and strongest ob- 
jection — the emperor was living. True, but it should 
be recollected how the imperial revolution which over- 
threw Nero was effected, (although there be no wish 
to compare the two characters.) It was operated with 
the assistance of false rumours and alarms, by a servile, 
but suddenly unshackled, senate. Where was Napo- 
leon at the moment when Malet executed his enter- 
prise ? He was evacuating Moscow ; he was commen- 
cing his disastrous retreat, which had only been fore- 
seen, but which once ascertained for fact, would have 
decided the general defection, if fifteen or twenty peo- 
ple of Influence had replaced, in the name of the safety 
of France, the first movers of the conspiracy. Let it 
be recollected, that the couriers and bulletins were al- 
ready intercepted ; that the twenty-sixth and twenty- 
seventh bulletins, announcing the evacuation and the re- 
treat, and dated the 23d of October, were only follow- 
ed by the twenty-eighth, dated the 11th of November; 
being an interval of twenty days, which would have 
amply sufficed to ensure the success of a plot, the ra- 
mifications of which will, for a long time, remain un- 
known. For a month, nothing was heard of but a con- 
tinual succession of disasters, the knowledge of which 
alone might have closed the gates of France against the 
emperor for ever. At first believed to be dead, he would 
bnly have been resuscitated, to be again struck down 
by the decree of his forfeiture. Never did a more fa- 
vourable opportunity present Itself for the overthrow 
of his military dictatorship ; never would it have been 
more easy to have established the basis of a govern- 
ment which would have reconciled us with ourselves 
and with Europe. This supposition being admitted, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 333 

how many fresh calamities would France have been 
spared ? 

Now let us examine, what were the causes of Ma- 
let's failure, in the midst even of his triumph. Shall I 
avow it ? it was for having regulated his means of exe- 
cution, upon a basis too widely extensive in philanthro- 
py. We will explain. Malet, a republican, belonging 
as well as Guidal and Lahorie his accomplices, to the 
secret society of the Philadelphians, was justly appre- 
hensive lest he should revive the alarm of the return 
of those sanguinary and mournful days which France 
remembered with horror. This moral conviction over- 
came every more decisive consideration, and instead of 
immediately putting to death Savary, Hullin and the 
two adjutants, Doucet and Laborde, the chief of the 
staff, Malet thought it would be sufficient to arrest 
them without eifusion of blood. He at first succeeded, 
with respect to the police, which was disorganized the 
moment that Savary and Pasquier permitted them- 
selves to be surprised, and ignommiously dragged to 
prison. But when Hullen's resistance had forced Ma- 
let to discharge his pistols, his hesitation lost every 
thing, not being able to fire at the same time upon Hul- 
lin and Laborde. The latter, being at liberty, had 
time to rally a few men round him, and rushing upon 
Malet, disarmed and arrested him. The conspiracy 
failed. Malet died with gve^i sang froid^ carrying with 
him the secret of one of the boldest coups de main which 
the grand epocha of our revolution bequeaths to history. 

The facility with which this surprise of power was 
effected, seemed to indicate that it was not unexpected. 
All was prepared at the Hotel de Ville, for the installa- 
tion of the provisionary government. Pale and trem- 
bling, the arch-chancellor remained, till ten o'clock in 
the morning, a prey to the most dreadful alarms, at 
one moment imagining he was about to be killed, at 
another, that he should at least share the dungeon with 
Savary. As to the people, it is true, they did nothing 
for the success of an enterprise, at first enveloped in 



334 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

complete obscurity; but they indirectly seconded it by 
that vis inertice which is always opposed to bad govern- 
ments. In short, although it had failed, this conspiracy 
was a horae-thrust to Napoleon's dynasty, by revealing 
a secret, fatal for its founder, his family, and his adhe- 
rents ; viz.^ that his political establishment would end 
with his life. 

It was at Smolensko, on the 14th or 16th of Novem- 
ber, that the emperor, amid the horrors of his retreat, 
received the first information of the conspiracy, and the 
prompt punishment of its authors. He was much trou- 
JDled at it. '* What an impression," said he, " will that 
tnake in France !" Savary and Cambaceres urged him 
to keep a strict eye upon the army, in which plots were 
formed against his life. Extraordinary precautions 
were iminediately taken ; a sacred band of officers most 
devoted to him was formed, the command of which was 
intrusted to Grouchy ; but this chosen body was soon 
involved in the general Avreck. Jealous, in the extreme, 
of all that could menace his throne. Napoleon felt far 
more anxiety to preserve that, than to save the wrecks 
of his army, the retreat of which he hurried on at any 
cost. Thanks to the unskilful pursuit of Kutusow, he 
gained three days' march upon the Russians, arrived at 
the Berezina, eluded the generals of the Moldavian ar- 
my, and, under protection of a most horrible disaster, 
gained the opposite bank. The whole army in the 
mean time was completely disbanded ; the only re- 
mains which could here and there be perceived of it 
were Avandering spectres, sinking under the severity of 
cold, fatigue, and wretchedness. Napoleon, having made 
up his mind to end an expedition which would deprive 
him of his laurels as a general, and tear from him his 
reputation as a statesman, like a deserter, betook him- 
self to flight in a sledge, and intrusted himself solely to 
Caulalncourt's devotedness ; disguised, and with the ut- 
most haste, he made for Paris, where every thing con- 
spired to make him (remble for the loss o\ his crown. 
At Warsaw, he himself revealed to his ambassador his 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 335 

situation, and the state of his mind, by those well known 
words: "From the sublime to the ^ridiculous there is 
but a step." Still alive to the fear of never reaching 
France, he strove to surmount danger by the rapidity 
of his flight, traversing in an impenetrable incognito. In 
Silesia, he was very nearly taken by the Prussians ; and 
at Dresden, he only escaped a plot for his seizure, be- 
cause Lord Walpole, who was at Vienna, dared not 
give the signal. 

And as if fortune had wished to pursue him to ex- 
tremities, he re-entered the palace of the Tuileries, on 
the 18th of December, the day after the publication of 
his twenty-ninth bulletin, which carried mourning into 
so many families. But this was, on his part, a new 
snare, held out to the devotedness and credulity of a 
generous nation ; who, struck with consternation, thought 
that their chief, chastened by misfortune, was ready to 
seize the first favourable opportunity of bringing back 
peace, and of, at length, consolidating the foundation of 
general happiness. 

This was the reason why France willingly made the 
greatest sacrifices to sustain a man whose only success 
had been that of spurning the ashes of Moscow, of car- 
rying desolation into a vast extent of country which he 
had left covered with the corpses of a hundred and fifty 
thousand of his own subjects, and those of his allies, 
after abandoning a still greater number of prisoners, 
and the whole of his artillery and magazines. Of lour 
hundred thousand men in arms who had crossed the 
Niemen, scarcely thirty thousand repassed that river 
five months afterwards, and of those two thirds had not 
seen the Kremlin. 

Napoleon, however, appeared at first far less con- 
cerned on account of the loss of his army, than about 
the conspiracy which had revealed so fatal a secret as 
the fragility of the foundation of his empire. Tor- 
mented by his death having been anticipated, his care- 
worn brow appeared bending beneath clouds of gloopi ; 
the conspiracy was the object of his first words, his 



336 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

first inquiries. He closetted himself with Cambaceres^ 
and sifted him narrowly in a long and secret conversa- 
tion. Savary was next sent for, whom he overwhelmed 
w^ith questions and reproaches; he afterwards gave au- 
dience to several members of his council, and appeared, 
still, wholly occupied with the conspiracy, while his 
ministers and agents were in the utmost alarm. But 
his police, being interested in representing the plot as 
an isolated one, affirmed that the whole of it originated in 
Malet; such was also the opinion of Cambaceres, of the 
Kiinister at war, and of the confidential advisers, who 
coiiiirmed JNapoleon in the idea that the greatest dan- 
ger he had to fear, and against which he should be on 
his guard, was in the reminiscences of the republic. 
Eiifrigod against the prefect of the Seine, a pupil of 
Mirabeau's, and whom we have seen, truckled to the 
conspirators, he issued a philippic against pusillanimous 
mogistrates, who, said he, " are the destruction of the 
eoipire, of the laws and of the throne. Our fathers 
had for their rallying cry. The king is dead : long live 
the king! A few words," added Napoleon, "containing 
the princi])al advantages of monarchy." All the bodies 
of the state immediately came to assure him of their 
present aud future fidelity. Lacepede, the speaker of 
the senate, designating the body to which he belonged, 
as the first council of the emperor^ added with great ra- 
pidity, "whose authority exists only when the monarch 
requires it, and gives it movement." This allusion to 
the spring of which Malet had availed himself, struck 
the senators very forcibly. In his answer to the coun- 
cil of state, Napoleon, attributing all the misfortunes 
which beautiful France had undergone to ideology^ (g'^o- 
my metaphysics) took occasion to cast reflections upon 
philosophy and liberty. He did not perceive that by 
ceasing to keep up the revolution and its principles, he 
ceased to command its aid and support; and that by 
preaching up the maxims of monarchical legitimacy, he 
was opening to the Bourbons the ways which the revo- 
lution had closed against them. And yet, in great cri- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 337 

ses, the Bourbons were ever uppermost In his thoughts. 
Besides what I have myself seen and heard of him in 
this respect, I was at this time made acquainted with 
the following fact. Ney, when relating to me the dis- 
asters of the retreat, and putting the firmness of his 
own military conduct in opposition to the want of fore- 
sight and the stupor of Napoleon, added that he ob- 
served in him a kind of mental aberration. " 1 thought 
him mad," said Ney to me : " when, struck with the 
greatness of his misfortune, at the moment of his de- 
parture he said to us, like a man who saw himself utter- 
ly deprived of all resource ; ' The Bourbons will take 
advantage of this :' " — an observation the sense of which 
escaped Ney, who was incapable of combining two poli- 
tical ideas. 

Napoleon's object, therefore, now was, to establish 
the superiority of the fourth dynasty over the third, and 
to surmount the crisis. All the different bodies of the 
state were now seen occupied in resolving a new ques- 
tion of public right, in consequence of the impulse of 
the cabinet, and the first words which fell from their 
master's lips, " I will," said he to them, " reflect upon 
the different epochas of our history." Every one im- 
mediately began thinking of the means to secure the 
hereditary possession ; the different speakers hastened 
to develope and explain the new doctrine; nothing was 
now heard of but succession, legitimate rights; these 
were the theme of all the preconcerted speeches. The 
king of Rome, said they, must be crowned upon the 
express demand of the senate, and a solemn oath must 
in anticipation, unite the empire to the succession to the 
throne. 

Such was the measure upon which the man intended 
to rely, who indebted to the revolution for a vast power, 
the magic of which he had just destroyed, renounced 
that very revolution, and separated himself from it. 
He, however, felt all the instability of a throne the sole 
support of which is the sword. 

Whilst he was thus exclaiming against the men and 
43 



338 MEMOIRS OP FOUCHE. 

the principles of the revolution, he recollected me, me 
against whom he had indulged so much suspicious jea- 
lousy. Besides, could he ever pardon me my hints of 
disapprobation, and my importunate and officious fore- 
sight ? I was informed that he had instituted a secret 
inquiry respecting my conduct connected with Malet's 
affair; but that all the reports had agreed as to my 
circumspection and non participation in it. Unable to 
reach me, he wounded me in the person of my friend, 
M. Malouet, whom he never pardoned for having open- 
ly visited me during my disgrace, being rendered more 
uneasy by this undisguised friendship between a revolu- 
tionary and a royalist patriot ; besides which he was 
irritated against him, on account of the spirit of oppo- 
sition which Malouet evinced in the discussion at the 
council board, against so many extravagant and vexa- 
tious measures. Being removed from the council of 
state, Malouet was exiled to Tours, where he led the 
life of a philosopher, less affected by his own disgrace, 
than by the ills which afflicted his country. His dis- 
grace was for me an additional motive to persist in the 
same reserve towards a government, which in its des- 
pair, in its vengeance, might be restrained by no consi- 
aeration. Its power already began to totter, and expe- 
rienced eyes could perceive the elements of its destruc- 
tion. But seconded by his intimate counsellors, Napo- 
leon employed every artifice calculated to palliate our 
disasters, and conceal from us their inevitable conse- 
quences. He assembled the whole phalanx of his flat- 
terers, now become the organs of his will ; he gave 
them their lesson, and all with one voice attributed the 
loss of our army, and the fatal issue of the campaign, 
solely to the rigour of the elements. By the aid of de- 
ception of every kind, they succeeded in making it be- 
lieved, that all might be repaired if the nation did but 
show itself great and generous ; that fresh sacrifices 
should be considered as nothing when weighed against 
the preservation of its independence and glory. The 
public spirit was stimulated by addresses begged from 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 339 

the chiefs of cohorts of the first bans of the national 
guards, who desired to march against the enemy out of 
France, and also by offers from the departments and 
communes to furnish cavalry, offers commanded by the 
government itself. Napoleon endeavoured at the same 
time to gain over new creatures to his interest, and to 
secure vacillating affections ; he distributed secret bribes 
drawn from his own treasures, which he had already 
diminished by nearly a hundred millions for his expenses 
in the Russian war. This time he was about to make 
unlimited demands upon them, for the double purpose 
of creating a new army, and of keeping in pay the 
ministers of certain cabinets, in order to maintain them 
in his interests. It was in his treasures that he found 
an army of reserve. 

In the mean time, he held privy councils, which were 
attended by Cambaceres, Lebrun, Talleyrand, Cham- 
pagny, Maret, and Caulaincourt. Maret, who had 
arrived from Berlin, affirmed that he had received from 
the Prussian ministers, and from the king himself, the 
strongest protestations that they would persevere in 
our alliance ; he added, that every circumstance ought 
to set the emperor's mind at ease respecting the affairs 
of the north. Whether Maret really spoke sincerely, 
or whether all was concerted for the purpose of spur- 
ring on the council which leaned towards negotiations, 
Napoleon, affecting greater confidence, said that he 
could rely upon Austria, and, according to all appear- 
ance, upon Prussia ; that consequently there was nothing 
alarming in his situation ; that besides he found his 
brother Joseph again at Madrid, and the English driven 
into Portugal ; in addition to which, he had already 
under arms one hundred cohorts and the anticipated 
levy of the conscripts of 1813. He decided that the 
Spanish war and that of the north should be prosecuted 
with the utmost vigour. 

On the other hand, the contents of Otto's* corres* 

* Napoleon's ambassador at Vienna, 



340 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

pondence got wind; it was known that Jjord Walpole 
had made Austria the most brilliant offers ; that he had 
represented all Germany as ready to rise, and France 
on the eve of a revolution. Otto added that the defec- 
tion of Austria might be expected. But this cabinet, 
being soon informed that Napoleon had again seized the 
reins of power, that he was making fresh levies, and 
that in the interior there was no appearance of a crisis, 
hastened to despatch to Paris Count Bubna. Otto also 
changed his tone, and his letters were in perfect unison 
with the assertions of Austria, whom he represented as 
only desirous of interfering as mediator for a general 
pacification. 

Full of confidence, Napoleon gave the word to his 
official organ, the Moniteur ; according to its represen- 
tations, " Austria and France are inseparable, no conti- 
nental power will detach itself from him ; besides, forty 
millions of Frenchmen have nothing to fear ... If it be 
desired to know," adds he, " the conditions to which I 
would subscribe for a general peace, reference must be 
made to the letter written by the Duke of Bassano to 
Lord Castlereagh previous to the cam pain of Russia," 
which was equivalent to saying that he consented, as if 
he had experienced no reverse at Moscow, to leave 
Sicily to Ferdinand IV., and Portugal to the house of 
Braganza, but that no other sacrifice was to be required 
of him. 

The news of the defection of a Prussian corps, com- 
manded by Yorck, having arrived, " What sufficed yes- 
terday," cried Napoleon, " is not sufficient to-day ;" 
and all his counsellors perceived that very instant what 
use was to be made of such an event. Maret dre)v up 
a report, stuffed according to custom with invectives 
against the British government, and concluding by pro- 
posing a levy of three hundred and fifty thousand men. 
Regnault hastened to the senate, and in the name of 
the emperor required the service of the young French-^ 
men forming the hundred cohorts, and who had been 
assured that they should only be occupied with military 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 341 

games and martial exercises in the interior ; a senatus- 
consultum placed them at the disposal of the emperor. 
The legislative body was assembled, in order to vote 
the supplies. " Peace," said Napoleon, in his opening 
speech, " is necessary to the world ; but I will never 
make but one which is honourable and consonant to the 
greatness of my empire." Nothing could be more 
pompous than the expose of his situation presented by 
Montalivet, the minister of the interior ; every thing, 
population, agriculture, manufactures, commerce, public 
instruction, and even the navy was in the most flourish^ 
ing and prosperous condition. Then came the presen- 
tation of the budget by Count Mole, counsellor of state ; 
and here the worthy pupil of Fontanes, astonished at 
so much prosperity, exclaimed in concluding his speech, 
" To produce so many wonders only twelve years of war 
and one single man sufficed." And immediately eleven 
hundred and fifty millions were, without discussion, 
placed at the disposal of this one man. 

He had placed as the first thing on his list of urgent 
aflfairs, the accommodation of his differences with the 
pope, wl)o, since the month of June, had been confined 
to the palace of Fontainebleau. Under pretence of a 
hunting party, Napoleon hastened to extort from him a 
new concordat despoiling him of his temporalities, but 
which the holy father retracted almost immediately 
afterwards. Religious matters became in consequence 
more and more embroiled. The open defection of 
Prussia no longer left any doubts upon the progress of 
the coalition. Frederick William, suddenly quitting 
Berlin, had fled to Breslaw, protected by the kindness 
of our ambassador. Saint Marsan, and in some degree 
under the aegis of Augereau, who had become human- 
ized. Nothing could be more kind and amiable than 
our generals and our ambassadors since our reverses. 
Upon receiving the news that the King of Prussia had 
escaped him. Napoleon regretted he had not treated 
him as he had done Ferdinand VII. and the pope. 
f' This is not the first instance," said he, " that in politics. 



342 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

generosity is a bad counsellor." He, indeed, generous 
towards Prussia ! ! ! 

In the mean time, the reflux of the war, setting in 
from the ruins of Moscow, proceeded rapidly towards 
the Oder and the Elbe. Eugene, who had rallied a few 
thousand men, had successively retired upon the Walthe, 
the Oder, the Spree, the Elbe, and the Saale. The 
German insurrection, excited by the secret societies, 
spread itself from town to town and from village to 
village, and the number of Napoleon's enemies daily 
increased. How could we depend upon our allies ? 
From the defection of Prussia we had reason to antici- 
pate that of many others. Determined to brave every 
thing, Napoleon, like a spendthrift, anticipating his 
revenue of men, ordered the conscription of 1814 to 
be rendered available. He and his favourites flattered 
themselves with an army of a thousand battalions, pre- 
senting an eflective force of eight hundred thousand 
men and four hundred squadrons, or one hundred thou- 
sand horse ; in all a million of soldiers to feed and pay. 
He soothed himself with this flattering chimera, and 
his ministers already demanded an additional sum of 
three hundred millions. 

On the other hand, one hundred and sixty thousand 
conscripts were wandering about the country, deserting 
from their standards, and protected by the disaffected 
spirit of the provinces. Napoleon dreaded this silent 
rebellion to military law, which would soon only need 
chiefs when an opportunity presented itself: what did 
he do ? By the most artful of plans he collected together 
in a guard of honour ten thousand young men, selected 
from the richest and most illustrious families; these 
were so many hostages of their parents' loyalty. 

The mediation of Austria being unsuccessful, Napo- 
leon again endeavoured to open a direct communication 
with the English minister ; for this purpose, he des- 
patched the banker, Labouchere, who, however, did 
not meet with a more favourable reception than he did 
in my time. On her side Prussia, who had just enter's 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 343 

ed into alliance with Russia, proposed an armistice, 
upon condition that Napoleon would content himself 
with the line of the Elbe, and would cede all the places 
on the Oder and the Vistula. In our cabinet, a party 
still persisted in affirming that peace was still possible; 
M. de Talleyrand said, that one had always the power 
of not fighting; Lebrun and Caulaincourt were like- 
wise of opinion that the offer of Prussia should be ac- 
cepted, and that negotiations should be entered upon. 
But how could Napoleon be persuaded to give up the 
fortresses? He could not make up his mind to cede 
any thing by negotiation. " Let them take them from 
me," said he, " but I will not give them up." 

He made his journals say, " Spain belongs to the 
French dynasty ; no human effort can hinder it." Be- 
ing informed on the 31st of March that the Russians 
had begun to cross the Elbe, he, himself, declared, 
through the medium of these same journals, " that hos- 
tile batteries, placed upon the heights of Montmartre, 
should never make him yield an inch of territory." 

And yet he received from every quarter pacific coun- 
sels and. useful advice. 

It hurt me to see M. de Talleyrand, if not restored 
to favour, at least recalled to the council board, whilst 
I remained forgotten and in disgrace. I perceived the 
reason of it to be the impression which the Malet plot, 
to which a republican and liberal colour had affectedly 
been given ; it might also be imputed to my remon- 
strances against the w^ar with Russia. Certain, how- 
ever, that sooner or later my services would be requir- 
ed, 1 thought it expedient to hasten the period. I was 
not ignorant that an address from Louis XVIII. to the 
French people, dated Hartwell, 1st of February, was 
being clandestinely circulated, in which the senate was 
invited to be the instrument of a great service. I knew 
that the emperor was aware of this document, the au- 
thenticity of which, however, might be questioned, as it 
had not given rise in England to any public observation 
or discussion. I procured a copy of it, which I address- 



344 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

ed to him, assuring him, at the same time, of its ge- 
nuineness. I shewed him in mj' letter that his triumphs 
had lulled the Faubourg St. Germain, but that his re- 
verses had again roused them; that these reverses had 
produced a vast change in the opinion of Europe ; that 
even in France the public mind had undergone a change ; 
that the partisans of the Bourbon family were on the 
alert ; that they would secretly re-organize themselves 
the instant that the power of the head of the state 
should lose its fascination; that an indisposition to war 
was the most general and the deepest feeling; that 
nothing short of the national honour was necessary to 
enforce the necessity of conquering peace by a new 
campaign, in which the whole population were to be in 
arms, in order to support negotiations so anxiously ex- 
pected ; that, for our safety and his own, he must either 
make peace, or convert the war into a national one ; 
that too implicit a confidence on the alliance of Austria 
Avould inevitably be his destruction ; that great sacri- 
fices must be made to Austria, and that what could 
not be withheld from her should be ceded with the 
utmost promptitude ; that 1 did not consider M. Otto 
as a person adequate to the discussion of such compli- 
cated political interests, especially when opposed to 
M. de Metternich ; and I pointed out M. de Narbonne 
as alone able to penetrate the real intentions of Austria, 
whose conduct was so very equivocal. 

It was not till after the lapse of a fortnight or three 
weeks, that I had a proof, that my letter, (though un- 
answered,) had produced its effect, by the mission of M. 
de Narbonne, to Vienna; I neither wished for, nor ex- 
pected more ; the rest must follow sooner or later. I 
could rely upon the influence and credit of M. de Nar- 
bonne, whose mission was of the highest importance. 

It must not excite astonishment, if, at the moment 
when Prussia obtained the levy en masse of the people 
of Germany, in the rear of the armies of the northern 
confederacy ; if, at the moment, when she held out to 
the nation its deliverance as the object of the war, that 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 345 

Napoleon voluntarily rejected his best defence, that of a 
national war. He was well aware he could only obtain a 
burst of patriotic enthusiasm by recovering the public 
opinion — by making to us concessions easy to another, 
but which would have cost him his heart's blood, as they 
would have inflicted a wound upon his pride, and have 
been a curb upon his power. I was therefore convinc- 
ed that he would no more acquiesce in such a measure, 
than in ceding to Prussia the places upon the Vistula 
and the Oder, and to Austria the Tyrol and lllyria. 
Napoleon thought he could meet all difficulties by the 
formation of a new array of three hundred thousand 
men, and by appointing a regency in case even of his 
death. 

By conferring it upon Maria Louisa, with the right of 
assisting at the different councils of state, his object was 
twofold ; to flatter Austria, and, at the same time, to 
prevent any plot of a provisional government. But, as 
the regent could not authorize by her signature the pre- 
sentation of any senatus-consultum, nor the promulgation 
of any law, the part she had to act was limited to her 
appearance at the council board. Besides, she was her- 
self under the guidance of Cambaceres, who was him- 
self directed by Savary. The ex-minister, Champagny, 
made also part of the regency, under the name of se- 
cretary ; whose duty it was to enter into a new regis- 
ter, ridiculously called the state-book, the definitive in- 
tention of the absent emperor. In fact, after the re- 
gency was set in motion, the soul of the government did 
not the less travel post with Napoleon, who made no 
difficulty of issuing forth his decrees from all his movea- 
ble head-quai'tcrs. 

The allies, after several battles, were preparing to 
cross the Elbe, when the emperor, after having display- 
ed extraordinary activity during three months in his 
preparations, quitted Paris on the i5th of April, and 
proceeded to place himself at the head of his troops. 

He first astonished Europe by the creation and sud- 
den appearance, in the heart of Germany, of a new 
44 



346 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

army of two hundred thousand men, which enabled him 
to act on the offensive. By gaining two battles succes- 
sively, the one at Bautzen, in Saxony, — the other at 
Wurtchen, beyond the Spree, he recovered the reputa- 
tion of his military talents. The first consequence of 
these victories was to bring back to us the King of Sax- 
ony, who entered into our alliance with the utmost pre- 
cipitation. 

The Prusso-Russians, whom Napoleon had defeated, 
— that is to say, the troops of Frederick William and 
the Emperor Alexander, continued their retreat towards 
the Oder, and he permitted himself to be drawn on in 
pursuit. But, in proportion as he advanced, he separat- 
ed himself from his reinforcements, whilst the allies, on 
the contrary, fell back upon theirs. 

Suddenly the news of an armistice was noised about 
Paris. Napoleon acceded to it, as he stood in need of 
reinforcements of every kind, and because he feared 
under the cloak of mediation, the armed interference of 
Austria. 

The question was now as to the line of demarcation 
between the two armies. The two points which occa- 
sioned the most animated discussion were Hamburgh 
and Breslaw. The Prussians insisted, with the greatest 
obstinacy, upon being left in possession of Silesia, — and 
Napoleon, although he was apprehensive that the ene- 
my's object in the armistice was rather to strengthen 
themselves for war than to use it as a preliminary to 
peace, determined to acquiesce, the general wish around 
him being for a suspension of arms. He, therefore, gave 
up Breslaw, abandoned the line of the Oder, and consent- 
ed to withdraw his army upon Leignitz. The armistice 
was concluded on the 4th of June at Plessevig; Napo- 
leon again fixed his head-quarters at Dresden. 

Such were the events which occupied the two 
first months of a campaign which was about to de- 
cide the fate of Europe. They had, both on this and 
the other side of the Rhine, wound up public atten- 
tion to the highest possible pitch of excitement and 
anxiety. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 347 

The armistice was as a respite ; the nation now flat- 
tered itself with the hope of an approaching peace, 
the object universally desired. Was it not thus, be- 
sides, that Napoleon, after all his victories, had suc- 
ceeded in pacifying Europe ? But, to the observer, 
how much times were changed ! Up to this moment, 
for want of information that could be depended upon, 
there was in Paris nothing but crude ideas upon events, 
of the secret and spring of which we were equally ig- 
norant. I was expecting news from head-quarters by 
an indirect channel, when I received from the arch- 
chancellor an invitation to confer with him upon a sub- 
ject of importance. He informed me that he was com- 
manded by the emperor to make a communication to 
me. The emperor, who had determined upon again 
accepting my services, desired that at the same time 
he wrote to the King of Naples, requesting him to re- 
pair to Dresden, I should avail myself of the intimacy 
I enjoyed with that prince to determine him not to 
defer acquiescing in the emperor's wish ; I was to re- 
present to him that it became absolutely necessary that 
we should make in Saxony the greatest display possi- 
ble of our forces, and of our resources, both military 
and political, in order to induce the enemy to conclude 
a peace which should be honourable for us. The arch- 
chancellor gave me the emperor's letter to read, to 
v^hich he added his own entreaties, adding that he had 
not the least doubt but I should be immediately called 
to fill a mission which would not be inferior either to 
my talents or rank. I rephed that I was ready to ful- 
fil the emperor's wishes ; that 1 would that moment 
write to the King of Naples, and would communicate 
its contents to him, in order that he might report them 
to his majesty. 

Although, from preceding circumstances, I had ex- 
pected that I should soon be recalled into political ac- 
tivity, I was rather in doubt as to what I should direct 
my views. I was mistrustful of Italy, which, in case of 
the resumption of hostilities, would only be for me an 



34B MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

honourable exile dictated bj suspicion. However, I 
wrote my letter to Murat, who was himself in no ordi- 
nary position. 

Joachim Murat, a brave and noble-minded general, 
but a king without any firmness or decision in his re- 
solves, had Cheated for himself at Naples a species of 
popularity and military power ; with this he was so 
much blinded as to wish to shake off the yoke of Na- 
poleon, who only considered him as an obedient vassal. 
It was not without difficulty that he had obeyed Napo- 
leon's orders in forming part of the Russian expedition 
Avith his contingent, formed of twelve thousand Neapo- 
litans and a part of his guard. It was to him that Na- 
poleon, when he fled, confided the command of the 
wretched remains of his army. Joachim, foreseeing 
the changes which were about to take place in the po- 
litical system of Europe, resolved to return to his king- 
dom, and endeavour to preserve himself from the con- 
sequences of such -a disaster. He quitted the army at 
Posen, and ten days after* the Moniteur announced his 
departure in these terms ; " The King of Naples, being 
indisposed, has been obliged to retire from the com- 
mand of the army, which he has resigned into the hands 
of the prince viceroy. The latter is more accustomed 
to the direction of large masses, and possesses the en- 
tire confidence of the emperor." 

This sally of official anger was the more galling to 
Murat, from the emperor having, during the two pre- 
ceding years, made him feel that he was but a vassal 
of the grand empire. Murat, perceiving that he must 
expect the fate of his brother-in-law, Louis, if the em- 
peror, surmounting his disasters, should recover his as- 
cendency, sought the alliance of Austria, which was not 
as yet detached from Napoleon. His first communica- 
tions with the court of Vienna were managed by 
Count Mier, the Austrian minister at Naples. Some 
negotiations also took place with Lord Bentinck, com- 

* The 27th of January, 1813. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 349 

mander of the English forces in Sicily. Joachim and 
Lord Bentinck had even a secret interviev/ in the island 
of Ponza ; but Murat was watched by Bonaparte. 

When it was known at Naples that the emperor, af- 
ter gaining the battles of Lutzen and Bautzen, was as- 
sembling a numerous army in Saxony, Queen Caroline 
wrote to her brother requesting he would be more con- 
siderate towards her husband, and used all her influence 
with the king to induce him to break off his rash con- 
nexions with Austria and England. Napoleon wrote to 
Murat, who, at first, refused to proceed to Saxony. 
He then caused a very affectionate letter to be writ- 
ten to him, in which Berthier, in the name of the em- 
peror, entreated him to repair to head-quarters, assur- 
ing him, that in all probabih ty, the campaign would not 
be opened ; that negotiations for peace were about to 
be commenced, and that his own interests imperatively 
demanded his presence. My letter was nearly in the 
same terms ; and I flattered him by adding that glory 
was to be won there, and that his honour required 
that he should make one among his brothers in arms. 
Murat no longer hesitated. Before even he could have 
received my despatch, a courier from Dresden brought 
me an order from the emperor, requiring my presence 
at head-quarters. I immediately concluded, that being 
as much apprehensive of my presence at Paris, as of 
that of Murat at Naples, we might consider ourselves 
as two hostages whom he was anxious to have in his 
power. I made some hasty preparations, and set off 
for Dresden via Mayence. 

The defence of Mayence, our principal key to the 
Rhine, was confided to Augereau, with whom I was 
anxious to have an interview, and who was also order- 
ed to form a corps of observation on the Maine. I 
found him very incredulous as to the peace, finding 
much fault with Napoleon, and expressing much pity 
for the poor inhabitants of Mayence, who were in the 
utmost alarm at the idea of a siege and the ruin of the 
beautiful environs of their city. Finding that he was 



350 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

completely master of all that had occurred, I set him a 
babbling. " Adieu, now," said he, " to our days of glo- 
ry ! Alas ! how little do these two victories, with which 
Napoleon makes all Paris re-echo, resemble those of our 
famous campaigns in Italy, where Bonaparte was my 
pupil in a science which he now only abuses. How 
great is the difficulty now to make even a few marches 
in advance. At Lutzen, our centre had given way; 
several battalions even had disbanded themselves ; in 
vain did our two wings, by extending themselves, threat- 
en to surround the forces accumulated by the enemy 
at the centre ; we should have been lost but for sixteen 
battalions of the young guard and forty-eight pieces of 
cannon. 1 tell you," continued he, " we can only calcu- 
late upon the superiority of our artillery ; we have 
taught them to beat us. After Bautzen, he forced the 
passage of the Elbe, and made himself an opening into 
the north ; but he was obliged to stop before Wurtzen, 
on the other side of the Spree, and there we only car- 
ried the position and the entrenched camp by immense 
loss of blood. I have letters from head-quarters, and 
from these I learn that all this horrible butchery has 
been productive neither of result, cannon, nor prisoners. 
In a cross country like this, the enemy are everywhere 
found entrenched, and dispute the ground with invari- 
able success. The battle of Reichenbach was disad- 
vantageous to us. Observe also, that in this short op- 
ening of the campaign, a cannon-ball carried off Bessi- 
eres, on this side the Elbe, while another killed Duroc 
at Reichenbach ; Duroc, the only friend he had left ! 
The same day, Bruyeres and Kirgemer fell also under 
random bullets. What a war !" cried Augereau, con- 
tinuing his disheartening reflections, " what a war is 
this ! It will be the end of us all ! What is he now 
about at Dresden ? He will not make peace ; he will 
get himself surrounded by five hundred thousand men ; 
for rely upon it, Austria will be as little faithful to him 
as Prussia. Yes, if he persist, and be not killed, which 
he will not be, good bye to us all." 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 351 

These observations sufficiently convinced me of the 
truth of what I had already heard, that an impatience 
for peace and for returning to Paris, formed the anx- 
ious desire of almost every general whose fortune was 
made. Dresden presented to me, at the same time^ the 
idea of a vast entrenched camp, and a capital city. The 
forests in the vicinity were being felled by the axes of 
the pioneers. Upon my arrival, I everywhere found 
the earth dug up, trees felled, ditches, and palisadoes. 
The emperor was continually on horseback, overlook- 
ing the works, and studying the surrounding country, ac- 
companied by Berthier, Soult, and the chief geographi- 
cal engineer Bacler d'Alby ; he was almost continually 
with the map in his hand examining the openings which 
led into the plain of Dresden. The construction of 
bridges, the tracing of roads, the erection of redoubts, 
and the formation of camps, formed also principal ob- 
jects in his excursions and rides. 

All these fortifications and lines might be considered 
as the advanced works of Dresden, the central point of 
a strong position on the higher bank of the Elbe ; the 
works on the right bank round the city were nearly 
finished ; peasants, put in requisition from all parts of 
Saxony, were labouring at their completion. The em- 
peror had completely surrounded the city by ditches 
and palisadoes, supplying the intervals left by the walls; 
the approaches were also defended by a line of advanc- 
ed redoubts, the cross fires of which commanded the 
country to a considerable distance. Not confining him- 
self to fortify the environs of Dresden, he had establish- 
ed along the whole line of the Elbe, upon the banks of 
that river, his cavalry ; the advance of which was at 
Dresden, while its rear reached to Hamburg. The 
towns of Koenigstein, Dresden, Torgau, Wittenberg, and 
Magdeburg, were his principal fortified points upon the 
Elbe, and secured to him the possession of that large 
and beautiful valley. All these works, begun and pro- 
secuted with the utmost ardour, sufficiently revealed that 
Napoleon's plan was to concentrate a great part of his 



352 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

forces in the environs of Dresden, there to await the 
course of events. Thus I found him much occupied with 
negotiations, after having chosen the environs of Dres- 
den for his field of battle, and the line of the Elbe for his 
rallying point. The majority of his generals consider- 
ed Dresden as possessing all the advantages of a cen- 
tral position proper to serve as a pivc c for the empe- 
ror's intended operations. There were, however, some 
who owned to me that if Aurlria aeclared itself, we 
should find ourselves in an awkward predicament, being 
exposed to an attack between the Elbe and the Rhine. 
They considered the division of the enemies' forces, 
though separate, as forming three grand masses. To- 
wards the north, on the Berlin road, the army of Ber- 
nadotte. Prince of Sweden ; towards the east, on the 
road to Silesia, the army of Blucher ; and behind the 
mountains of Bohemia, the Austrian army of observa- 
tion, under Schwartzenberg; for, at head-quarters, the 
Austrians were already looked upon as on the point of 
declaring against us. 

Being informed that the emperor had returned to 
the palace of Marcolini, in Friederichstadt, I hastened 
to present myself at his levee. . He made me enter his 
cabinet; 1 found him there very serious. "You have 
come late, my Lord Duke," said he to me. " Sire, I 
have used the utmost diligence in obeying your majes- 
ty's commands." " Why were you not here before my 
grand discussion with Metternich ; you would have fa- 
thomed him." " Sire, it was not my fault." " Those 
people wish to dictate laws to me without a sword be- 
ing drawn ; and do you know who most annoy me at this 
moment ? your two friends, Bernadotte and Metter- 
nich ; the one makes an open, the other an underhand, 

war against me." — " But, sire !" " Call upon Ber- 

thier; he will communicate to you every thing respect- 
ing our present situation, and will put you an fait of 
all ; you must then give me your ideas upon this infernal 
Austrian negotiation, which is slipping through my fin- 
gers ; all your ability is required to preserve it. How- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 353 

ever, I will no way compromise my power or my glory ! 
Those scoundrels are so hard ! they want, without fight- 
ing, the money and the provinces which I only obtained 
at the sword's point. I have arranged matters Avell, as 
to the chief point ; Narbonne has undeceived us ; you 
will see what his opinion is. Speak with Berthier as 
soon as possible, give the matter mature consideration, 
and let me see you in two days." 

Upon withdrawing, I found it was impossible for me 
that day to converse with Berthier, who, having be- 
come, since Duroc's death, the favourite both in poli- 
tics and military affairs, was continually with the empe- 
ror, and was a constant guest at his table. He put off 
the interview till the day following. In the meantime, 
a member of the cabinet made me acquainted with two 
circumstances which had just over-shadowed our poli- 
tical horizon, and which rendered the hopes of peace 
still more uncertain. I mean the political dispute of 
Count Metternich with the emperor (of which I shall 
soon speak,) and the intelligence which arrived that 
very day of the complete defeat of our army in Spain, 
at Vittoria; a defeat which left the Peninsula at tbe 
mercy of Wellington, and carried the war to the foot 
of the Pyrenees. Such an event, known at Prague, 
could not fail producing a baleful influence upon the 
pending negotiations. The emperor, confounded at 
this first reverse, which he imputed to the inability of 
Joseph and Jourdan, looked around for a general ade- 
quate to the reparation of so many errors. This choice 
fell upon Marshal Soult, at that time near his person. 
He enjoined him to go and rally his forces, and to de- 
fend, inch by inch, the passage of the Pyrenees. Soult 
would not have hesitated, had not his wife, recently ar- 
rived at Dresden, with a splendid equipage, shown some 
repugnance, refusing to return to Spain, " where," said 
she, " nothing was to be got but blows." As she pos- 
sessed considerable influence over her husband, Soult, 
being much annoyed, had recourse to the emperor, who 
immediatelv sent for the duchess. She made her ap- 
4r) 



354 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

pearance with an air of vast importance ; and, assuming 
an imperious tone, declared that her husband should not 
return to Spain ; that he had served too long, and stood 
in need of repose. " Madam," cried Napoleon, enrag- 
ed, " 1 did not send for jou to hear this insolence ; I 
am not jour husband; and if 1 were, you would con- 
duct yourself differently. Kecollect that woman's pro- 
vince is to obey; return to your husband and let him be 
quiet." She was obliged to submit ; to sell horses, car- 
riages, S^'-c. 8fc., and in dudgeon, take the road to the 
western Pyrenees. This scene with a haughty duchess 
furnished much amusement at head-quarters, and acted 
as a diversion to the malicious chit-chat, of which one of 
our most beautiful actresses, Mademoiselle de Bourgoin, 
had recently been the object. Having been sent for to 
Dresden, with the elite of the Comedie Frangaise, and 
being invited one day to breakfast with the emperor, 
in company with Berthier and Caulaincourt, she nad, it 
is said, after laying aside the character of Melpomene, 
successively assumed that of Hebe, Terpsichore, and 
Thais. 

But let us pass on to more serious circumstances. I, 
at length, obtained an interview with Berthier, who 
had a small lodging in the Bruhl* palace. It would be 
tiresome to relate verbatim, our long conversation upon 
the military and political position of the emperor at 
this time. I shall only give here the portion really his- 
torical, introducing some ideas drawn from my own re- 
collections. We will commence by the Austrian nego- 
tiation. Narbonne, writing from Vienna towards the 
end of April, was the first to inform us that Austria 
could be but little depended upon, he having forced 
from M. de Metternich the avowal that the treaty of 
alliance of the 14th of March, liiVI, no longer appear- 

* It is supposed to be the palace of Marcolini, which was occu- 
pied by Napoleon, and fornnerly belons^ed to the Count de Biuhl, a 
minister of Augustus 111., the Elector of Suxony, and King of Po- 
land. — JVole by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 353 

ed suitable to existing circumstances ; he called for a 
serious attention to the demands and armaments of Aus- 
tria. The emperor immediately conceived the idea of, 
at least, neutralizing the cabinet of Vienna, by means of 
two negotiations: the one official, the other secret; he 
flattered himself with destroying the influence of the 
northern coalition, both with the emperor, his father- 
in-law, and M. de Metternich. 

The emperor had formed an erroneous opinion of 
this statesman, who had resided for three years at Paris 
as ambassador, and who had negotiated, in quality of 
prime minister, the treaty of Vienna and of alliance. 
Of all European statesmen, he Avas indisputably the one 
who best understood the government and court of Na- 
poleon. In this he had succeeded, through his high 
connexions, by successively paying his interested devoirs 
to Hortensia and Pauline, and those which were the re- 
sult of predilection to Murat's wife, afterwards the 
Queen of Naples. 

The emperor formed a superficial judgment of a 
diplomatist, who under the exterior of a man of the 
world, agreeable, gallant, and devoted to pleasure, 
masked one of the strongest thinkers of Germany, and 
concealed a mind essentially Europeaft and monarchical. 
Still deceiving himself, even after his reverses, the em- 
peror imagined that intrigue at Vienna would be supe- 
rior to considerations of state ; such was the source of 
his errors. Imagining that he had cut the Gordian knot 
of policy, in the fields of Lutzen and Wurtzen, he 
thought he had fully succeeded in regaining Austria to his 
interests. M. de Bubna was despatched to him; this 
minister did not dissemble, in the midst of his flatteries, 
that his court would demand in Italy, the Illyrian pro- 
vinces, on the side of Bavaria and Poland an increase of 
frontiers, and lastly in Germany the dissolution of the 
conl'ederation of the Rhine. Napoleon, considering it 
weakness to purchase a mere neutrality with such sa- 
crifices, in answer to the autograph letter of his father- 
in-law, replied, that he would die fighting, rather than 



356 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

submit to such conditions. The uncertainty respecting 
the alliance being prolonged, after the armistice, Bubna 
was seen going to and fro between Vienna and Dresden, 
Dresden and Prague, and at lengtli he announced that 
Russia and Prussia would adhere to the mediation of 
his court. A congress at Prague now became the topic 
of conversation. Narbonne followed the court of Aus- 
tria thither; and scarcely was he in the neighbourhood 
of Dresden, than he repaired thither to receive fresh 
instructions. "Well," said the emperor to him, "what 
do they say of Lutzen?" " Ah ! Sire," replied the wit- 
ty courtier, " some say you are a god, others, that you 
are a devil ; but every one allows you are more than a 
man." Narbonne, a deep observer of mankind, was 
not, however, mistaken respecting the supernatural pow- 
er of him whose head he compared to a volcano. 

The secret negotiation turned upon two conditions, 
the withdrawing from the Illyrian provinces, and the 
payment of a provisional subsidy of fifteen millions, as a 
small compensation for what Austria affirmed she had 
refused, viz., ten millions sterling, offered her by the 
Cabinet of London, in order to induce her to declare 
against us. She had already received ten millions in 
equal payments. 

After having conferred with Narbonne, Napoleon de- 
cided that the negotiations should be opened direct with 
M. de Metternich, and that I should repair to Dresden, 
as I had for a long time been in possession of a clue to 
the labyrinth of diplomacy. 

Whilst a courier was despatched for me, M. de Met- 
ternich arrived, bringing with him the answer of his ca- 
binet to the pressing notes of the minister of foreign 
affairs. The alliance considered as incompatible with 
the mediation was first to be broken off. The Austrian 
minister, also, no lono-er dissembled the intentions of his 
court to place itself between the belligerent powers, to 
prevent their communicating with each other, but 
through the chancery of Vienna. Here fresh difficul- 
ties arose, as Napoleon would not understand this unu- 



MEm6iRS of FOUCHE. 357 

sual mode of nep'otiation. Prince Metternicb, being the 
bearer of a private letter from his master, catiie to de- 
liver it to the emperor, who granted him a private au- 
dience. Here the altercation began, bv Napoleon com- 
plaining that a month had alreacly bcon lost, that the 
niediation of Austria had the characic^r of iiostilitj, and 
that she would no longer guarantee the integrity of the 
French empire; he complained tJiat she had interfered 
to arrest his victorious progress, by the mention of ar- 
mistice and mediation. " You talk of peace and alh- 
ance," said he to M. de Metternich, " and the political 
horizon becomes still more clouded. The tics of the 
coalition are drawn still closer by the treaties cemented 
with English gold. Now that your two hundred thou- 
sand men are ready, you come to dictate laws to me ; 
your cabinet is eager to take advantage of my embar- 
rassment to recover all or part of what it has lost, and 
to propose our ransom before we have fought. Weil! 
I will consent to treat ; but, let us have a candid expla- 
nation. What are your demands ?" " Austria," replied 
Metternich, " is only desirous of establishing an order of 
things which, by a wise distribution of the European 
power, may place the guarantee of peace under the 
aegis of a confederacy of independent states." " Be 
more explicit, I have offered you Illyria; I have con- 
sented to a subsidy to induce you to remain neuter; my 
army is quite sufficient to make the Russians and Prus- 
sians listen to reason." M. de Metternich then made 
the avowal, that things were at such a pass, that Austria 
could not remain neuter ; that she was forced to declare 
for or against France. Thus pressed, Napoleon, with- 
out flinching, seized a map of Europe, and desired Met- 
ternich to explain himself. Finding that Austria insist- 
ed, not only upon Illyria, but the half of Italy, the re- 
turn of the pope to Rome, the re-establishraent of 
Prussia, the ceding of Warsaw, of Spain, Holland, and 
the confederation of the Rhine; he could no longer 
contain himself. " Your object then," cried he, " in 
going from camp to camp is partition ; you want the 



358 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

disniemberraent of the French empire ! With a sing]e 
dash of the pen, you pretend to throw down the ram- 
parts of the fortresses of Europe, the keys of which I 
could only obtain by dint of victory ! And it is without 
striking a blow, that Austria thinks to make me sub- 
scribe to such conditions ! And it is my father-in-law 
who makes an offer, in itself an insult! He deceives 
himself, if he thinks, that a mutilated throne can be an 
asylum for his daughter or his grand-son. Ah ! Metter- 
nich, how much has England paid you, to induce you to 
act this part against me." 

At these words, the statesman, offended, replied only 
by a haughty silence. Napoleon, confused, became 
more calm, and declared that he did not yet despair of 
peace ; he insisted that the congress might be opened. 
Upon dismissing M. de Metternich, he told him that the 
cession of lllyria was not his ne plus ultra. The Austrian 
minister did not quit Dresden* till after he had caused 
the mediation of his court to be accepted, and prolong- 
ed the armistice till the 10th of August. When Napo- 
leon was asked, if the five last miiiions of the subsidy 
must be paid : " No," said he, " these people would soon 
demand all France of us." Such was the state of affairs 
on my arrival at Dresden. 

I did not conceal from Berthier, whose judgment was 
sound, and opinions just, that I had not the least doubt 
but that Austria would join the coalition, unless the em- 
peror abandoned, at least, Germany and lllyria. I ad- 
ded, that if hostilities were resumed, 1 foresaw the 
greatest disasters; as there had never existed since the 
revolution, so firm a principle of coalition against our 
power. 

Berthier coincided with me in opinion. "But," said 
he, "you cannot imagine how much circumspection 
is necessary with the emperor; an open contradiction 
■would irritate beyond my power to pacify him. I am 
obliged to use the most indirect means, unless he de- 

* The 30th of June. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 359 

mands my opinion. For example, ever since Austria 
has appeared desirous of dictating to us, we are of- 
ten discussing plans of campaign upon the supposition 
of a rupture; that is my hold. Well, would you be- 
lieve it? I did not dare persuade him to abandon 
the line of the Elbe for the purpose of approach- 
ing that of the Rhine, which would cover the whole 
of our disposable forces. How did I act ? In an in- 
direct manner, I seconded the plan of a very intel- 
ligent officer,* a plan which consisted by calling in all 
the troops we had on the other side of the Elbe, in re- 
uniting all the detached corps, and in retiring en masse 
upon the Saale, and from thence upon the Rhine. 
One very serious consideration pleaded in favour of this 
plan. Allowing that Austria declared herself, she would 
immediately open the gates of Bohemia, permit the 
allies to turn our position, and, in a word, cut us off 
from France. Nothing could make an impression upon 
the emperor. ' Good God !' cried he, ' why ten defeats 
could scarcely reduce me to the position in which you 
place me all at once. You are apprehensive of my 
situation in the heart of Germany being a very preca- 
rious one. Was I not In a much more hazardous situa- 
tion at Marengo, Austerlitz, and Wagram ? Well ! I 
conquered at W^agram, Austerlitz, and Marengo. What, 
do you think me in a precarious situation who am pro- 
tected by all the fortresses of the Elbe, and by Erfurt? 
Dresden is the pivot upon w'hich I shall manoeuvre to 
make head against every attack. From Berlin to 
Prague the enemy develope themselves upon a circum- 
ference of which I occupy the centre. Do you imagine 
that so many ditferent nations will long keep up a con- 
nected system of operations for such an extent of line ? 
I shall sooner or later surprise them in false movements. 
The fate of Germany must be decided in the plains of 

* We have reason to believe that the person here alluded to is 
Lientenant-General Rog-niat, commander of the eng^ineer department 
in the campaign of Saxony. — Ediior''s note. 



360 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Saxony. I repeat it : the position I have chosen gives 
me such chances, that the enemy, if they even gained 
ten battles, could scarcely drive me back upon the 
Rhine, — while I, if once victorious, would take posses- 
sion of the hostile capitals, disengage my garrisons upon 
the Oder and the Vistula, and force the allies to make 
a peace which would leave my glory untouched. At 
any rate, I have calculated upon every thing ; fate 
must do the rest. As to your plan of retrograde de- 
fence, it cannot suit me : besides, I do not ask you to 
furnish plans of campaign; do not make them; be satis- 
fied with entering into my ideas, in order to execute the 
commands I may give you.' " " But," said I to Berthier, 
" if every general and staff-officer of the army thought 
as you, which I have no doubt is really the case, do 
you not conceive that this combination of a moral oppo- 
sition would force the emperor not to compromise every 
thing bv his obstinacy ?" " Do not deceive yourself," 
replied Berthier; " opinions are much divided at head- 
quarters. Because we have been a long time victo- 
rious, it is imagined we shall be so still, no allowance 
being made for the. vast changes in the times. Besides, 
see how the emperor is surrounded : Maret is com- 
pletely drawn into his system ; nothing, therefore, can 
be expected from him. If Caulaincourt, who enjoys 
his confidence in a still greater degree, sometimes speaks 
his mind, and forces the truth upon him, he is not less 
obsequious. The emperor now rarely consults his two 
bravest generals, Murat and Ney, except on the field 
of battle, — and he is in the right. Those usually about 
his person encourage his mania for war ; all but Nar- 
bonne, Flahauit, Drouet, Durosuel, and Bernard, who 
are distinguished exceptions, and who might easily be 
brought over to more reasonable views. As to his 
other favourites, especially Bacier d'Abby, who, with 
his maps, is constantly at his side, they, like their 
master, indulge the hope that the allies will commit 
faults which may be turned to their destruction; they 
speak of tliem with contempt, as acting without any 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 361 

plan ; they will not see that all has undergone a change 
since our unfortunate Russian campaign, — that we have 
taught them how to beat us, — and that, if they cannot 
attain the velocity and the precision of our manoeuvres, 
and the superiority of our artillery, other advantages, 
especially that of numbers, will ensure their eventual 
triumph ; for, as in the days of Marshal Saxe, it is still 
gros bataillons who gain the victory. Do not forget, 
also, the co-operation of the people, who are now stirred 
up in insurrection against us, not only by secret societies, 
but even by their governments. No doubt," rejoined 
Berthler : " add to which we are also in want of spies 
and a good cavalry." " Enough," said I, taking leave 
of him ; " I will commit to writing your ideas, to which 
I will add my own ; and, thus provided, I will see the 
emperor, and tell him the truth, as 1 have done upon 
every occasion." V 

My intention was not to enter into a military discus- 
sion, nor even into a profound political disquisition ; for 
I was perfectly aware that either the abruptness of his 
dialogue, of his questions, or of his dogmatizing tone, 
would not allow me the time. My first audience gave 
me to understand that two men were uppermost in his 
thoughts, Bernadotte and Metternich. As to the latter, 
I knew well my cue ; the former was a more difficult 
subject to deal with : it was, however, necessary. I 
had been assured that, at the Abo interview,* the 
Emperor of Russia had said to him, " If Bonaparte be 
unsuccessful in his invasion of my empire, and if, in 
consequence of that, the throne of France should be- 
come vacant, I know no one better qualified to ascend 
it than yourself." Were not these words, which are a 
sufficient explanation of Bernadotte's conduct, rather 
employed as a stimulus than as an index of the real 
sentiments of the august personage who uttered them ? 
— The interior was at this time no way prepared for 
such an event : how many chances were against its even 

* September , 1812. 
46 



X 



362 MEMOms OF FOUCHE. 

being probable 7 After the disasters of Moscow, the 
European cabinets could not make a question about 
replacing the military chief of France by another soldier 
of fortune. They began to recollect that there was a 
dynasty of the Bourbons. Many doubts were removed 
by the expected arrival of Moreau on the continent, in 
the suite of Bernadotte, The first operations of Charles 
John, who, previous to the armistice, had landed at 
Stralsund with the Swedish corps, was to retake Pome- 
rania from us. His future line of policy might easily 
be conjectured by his being always accompanied and 
almost watched by the English General Stewart, the 
Austrian Baron de Vincent, the Russian General Pozzo- 
di-Borgo, and the Prussian General Krusemarck. Amid 
such mistrust, some glimmerings of hope shone over his 
fortunes ; for almost all parties had their representatives 
at his head-quarters, even the faction of the malcon- 
tents, of which Madame de Stael was the life and soul. 
Napoleon had just learnt, that, availing himself of the 
armistice, Charles John had recently visited the Empe- 
ror Alexander and the King of Prussia at their head- 
quarters of Reichenbach, in order to confirm them in 
their resolution not to sign peace so long as a single 
French soldier should be left on the right bank of the 
Rhine. The temper in which I was about to find him 
may easily be conjectured. I prepared myself for the 
interview, and presented myself at the gardens of 
Marcolini. Being almost immediately introduced, I 
found the emperor surrounded with maps and plans. 
He had scarcely perceived me, when, rising, he ad- 
dressed me thus : " Well, ray lord duke, are you now 
acquainted with our situation?" — "Yes, sire." — "Shall 
"we be between two fires; between the howitzers of 
your dear Bernadotte and the bombs of my most excel- 
lent friend Schwartzenberg !" — "In my opinion, there 
cannot be the least hesitation, at least, to conciliate 
Austria.'' — " I will not do so ; I will not tamely submit 
to be stripped without fighting. I know full well that 
the ambition of all, and the bad passions of many, have 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 363 

been set in action against me. Your Bernadotte, for 
example, may do us much harm, by giving up the key 
to our policy and the tactics of our army to the enemy." 
— " But, sire, has not your cabinet endeavoured to 
induce him back into a less hostile system ?" — " By what 
means? he is subsidized by England; I have, however, 
written to him, and have about him a man I can de- 
pend upon; but his head has been turned with seeing 
himself courted and flattered by these legitimates." — 
*' Sire, all this has appeared to me in so serious a light, 
that I also have taken up the pen to endeavour to 
open the Prince of Sweden's eyes, who is at perfect 
liberty to come and parade up and down in Germany ; 
but who ought not, in any case whatever, to make war 
upon France." — " But, France ! France ! I am France." 
— ^" Will your majesty condescend to inform me if you 
approve of my letter ; I prove in it to the Prince of 
Sweden that he is making himself the instrument of 
Russia and England for the overthrow of your power, 
and for the resuscitation of the cause of the Bourbons." 
(I then delivered my letter to the emperor, who read 
it attentively.) "Very well; but how shall you get it 
conveyed to him ?" — " I think your majesty might avail 
yourself of the medium of Marshal Ney, so long the 
friend and companion in arms of the Prince of Sweden, 
and who might add his own personal solicitations, your 
majesty authorizing him to choose for his emissary Co- 
lonel T ." — " No, that officer was formerly a jaco- 
bin." — " Sire, Lieutenant T , of the gendarmerie^ 

might be employed ; his devotion and intelligence i$ 
well known to your majesty." — " Well, let it be so; in- 
structions shall be given him, and he shall wait upon 
Ney." After two minutes' silence, the emperor sudden- 
ly resumed : " Have you considered the means of pro- 
secuting the secret negotiation with Austria?" — "Yes, 
sire." — " Have you drawn me up a note ?" — " Yes, sire, 
here it is." (The emperor, after having read it;) 
"What! does all appear to you unavailing? Do you 
see in my plans nothing but palliatives and half mea- 



364 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

sures ; do jou range yourself in the lists with those who 
would wish to see nie disarmed, and reduced to an 
equality with a village mayor? Rely upon it, my lord 
duke, you will never find a more secure aegis than 
mine." — " Sire, of this I am so well persuaded, that it 
is precisely one of the motives which make me so ar- 
dently desire to see your majesty's throne no longer ex- 
posed to the chances of war. But it is my duty not to 
conceal from your majesty that the re-action of Eu- 
rope, for a long time arrested by your glorious victories, 
can no longer be so but by other triumphs more diffi- 
cult to obtain. The same ministers, who Avere always 
ready to negotiate with your cabinet, and whom it was 
formerly so easy for you to divide and intimidate, now 
boast that their voices shall no longer be stifled in the 
councils of kings by a narrow and short-sighted policy ; 
they pretend that they have at stake the salvation of 
Europe !" — " Well ; 1 have at stake the salvation of 
the empire, and certainly I shall not undertake a part 
w^hich they have rejected." — " But a disjunction must 
be effected; if you do not disarm Austria, or if she do 
not embrace your cause, you will have all Europe against 
you, for this once firmly united. The best thing to be 
secured would he peace ; it is practicable by abandon- 
ing Germany to preserve Italy, or by ceding Italy in 
order to keep a footing in Germany. I am beset. Sire, 
with melancholy presentiments ; in the name of Hea- 
ven, for the glory and consolidation of that magnificent 
empire I have assisted you in organizing, avoid, I en- 
treat, the rupture, and avert, while there is yet a time, a 
general crusade against your power. Think, that this 
time, upon the least reverse of fortune, the face of 
every thing will be changed, and that you Avill lose the 
rest of your allies, who are even now wavering; that 
by rejecting a national defence, the only safeguard 
against disaster, your enemies will turn to their advan- 
tage the vis inertim, so fatal to the power which isolates 
itself; it is then that old dormant hopes will be reviv- 
ed, and that England, ever on the watch, will pour into 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 365 

Bourdeaux, La Vendee, Normandy, and Mortriban, lis 
agents, commissioned on the first favourable opportuni- 
ty to revive the cause of the Bourbons. I conjure you. 
Sire, for the sake of our safety, and your own glory, 
not to stake your crown and power on the chances of a 
throw. What will be the event? That five hundred 
thousand soldiers, backed by a second line consisting of 
a population in arms, will compel you to abandon Ger- 
many, without giving you time to enter into fresh ne- 
gotiations." At these words the emperor, raising his 
head, and assuming a warlike attitude, " 1 can yet," 
said he, "fi^ht ten battles with them, and one is suffi- 
cient to disorganize and crush them. It is a pity, my 
Lord Duke, that a fatal tendency to discouragement and 
despair should have thus pervaded the best inclined 
minds: the question is no longer the ceding this or that 
province ; our political supremacy is at stake ; and, as 
to myself, upon that depends my existence. If my phy- 
sical power be great, my moral power is infinitely more 
so; it is magic; do not let us break the enchantment. 
What occasion for all this alarm ? let events develope 
themselves. As to Austria, she should deceive no one; 
she wishes to profit by my situation in order to wrest 
great concessions from me; I have made up my mind 
to it to a great extent ; but I can never be persuaded 
that she consents to ruin me utterly, and thus place her- 
self at the mercy of Russia. This is my line of policy, 
and I expect you will serve me to the utmost of your 
ability. I have appointed you governor-general of II- 
lyria ; and, to all appearance, you will have to cede it 
to Austria. Go, set off" for Prague, there make your 
dispositions for the secret negotiations ; and from thence 
proceed to Gratz and Laybach, after which you will 
act according to circumstances; use all despatch, for 
poor Junot, whom you replace, is certainly stark mad; 
and Illyria has need of an able and firm hand." " I 
am quite ready, Sire, to answer the confidence with 
which you honour me ; but, if I dared, I would beg 
you to observe, that one of the principal springs in the 



366 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

secret negotiation would doubtless be, independently of 
the withdrawing from the provinces, the perspective of 
the regency, such as it has been organized by your ma- 
jesty in its greatest latitude." " I understand you well I 
say all you please upon the subject ; I ^ive you a carte 
blanche.''^ 

My sole object was now, supposing that a rupture 
should take place, to turn my new situation to the ad- 
vantage of the state. Besides, the secret negotiation 
with Austria appeared to be without an object, the mo- 
ment that the emperor refused to make to that power 
the concessions by which alone he could retain it in his 
interests. My mission was, therefore, with respect to 
Austria, nothing but a blind ; and towards myself, 
nought else but a pretext to remove me during the 
crisis, from the centre of affairs. The emperor had 
also two other objects. First, to keep as long as possi- 
ble the court of Austria still in suspense ; and to keep 
up a party there quite disposed to second him, if in case 
of a rupture, she should succeed, by some grand defeat, 
in disuniting the northern coalition. Secondly, he ear- 
nestly wished to make me traverse the Austrian mo- 
narchy from one end to the other, on my way to my 
government, being persuaded that 1 should not make 
my observations upon it in vain. Berthier owned tome 
that such was the emperor's intention; that he even 
desired I wouid stop at Prague as long as possible, in or- 
der to concert matters with Narbonne, and to penetrate 
the ulterior views of Austria. He did not fall to expa- 
tiate much upon the high powers with which I was invest- 
ed in the Iliyrian provinces, powers which, being at the 
same time, both civil and military, conferred upon me a, 
kind of dictatorship ; but I knew perfectly well what I 
had to expect from this Iliyria, whether war broke out 
again, or whether tins province was ceded to Austria. 
As to my sojourn and my observations at Prague, I was 
convinced that it became me less than any other per- 
son to prolong the one, or extend the others beyond the 
limits of propriety. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 367 

I was, however, desirous of prescribing to myself 
some plan, founded equally upon reason and utility; 
for I knew that nothing could be worse than to act 
at random. The actual state of existing politics af- 
fording me no data, I arranged my ideas upon the 
probabilities of the future. The emperor, said I, must 
succumb under a general confederacy; he may pe- 
rish in the field, or maj"^ be attainted by a decree of 
forfeiture, after a series of fresh reverses which 
wo:jld entirely dissipate the fascination of his power. 
Spite of the egotism, the blindness, and even the 
baseness which predominate among the chief function- 
aries of the state, it is Impossible but that ideas of 
self-preservation must take root in some of the strong- 
est thinkers of Paris ; this may bring about one of those 
revolutions, determined by the weight of circumstances 
and the exigencies of public opinion. Such a revolu- 
tion may have important consequences, for if England, 
the soul of this new coalition, should assume the politi- 
cal direction of it, the chances would be found to be on 
the side of the Bourbons. 

I have no need to say that my former proceedings 
did not permit me to turn my thoughts to that quarter, 
even supposing the overthrow of the empire ; and per- 
haps I shall be considered as being too candid in con- 
fessing that, during the last six months of 1813, the 
Bourbons would have found, In the high offices of state, 
but few men of credit upon whom they could rely with 
any degree of safety. In fact, all the revolutionary in- 
terests, which were falling off from the emperor, those 
even of the royalists which had become incorporated 
with the imperial government, must first necessarily 
endeavour to rally under the power of the regency, of 
which Napoleon himself had laid the basis, if a few 
men of ability were enabled to effect the change in . 
case of a reverse. But it was clear that one ought not 
to calculate that all was lost. Austria was much inte- 
rested in seeing a regency established under the asgis 
of an arch-duchess, and in maintaining a system which, 



368 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

bj allying her to France, reconciled to Europe and re- 
duced within its natural limits the Alps and the Rhine, 
would enable her immediately to counterbalance the 
too great preponderance about to be acquired by Rus- 
sia. It was upon this basis that 1 arranged my ideas, 
and explained them in a memoir, in which I establish- 
ed the hypothesis of an effective regency, the eventual 
direction of which might be left to statesmen. Accord- 
ing to my plan, all interests were to be represented in 
the council of regency. I naturally was to be a mem- 
ber of it, as well as Messrs. Talleyrand, Narbonne, Mac- 
donald, Montmorency, and two other persons, whose 
names I shall not mention. As to the ambition of the 
marshals, It would have been provided for by the erec- 
tion of large military governments, which were to be 
shared aoiono: them, and which would have increased 
their influence m the state ; m a word, accordmg to my 
ideas, the regency would have conciliated all minds and 
all opinions. The government, instead of being the 
oppressor, w^ould have become the protector, of its 
subjects, — while its form would have been that of a li- 
mited monarchy, with a mixture of a moderate aristo- 
cracy, (aristocratic raisomiahle,) and of a representative 
democracy. This was undoubtedly the plan best suit- 
ed to the serious character of circumstances, as it would 
preserve France from the twofold danger of invasion 
and dismemberment. I had the greatest reason for 
believing that it would be favourably received by the 
statesman at that time at the head of the Austrian policy, 
whose solidity of character and depth of views were 
well known to me ; I mean M. de Metternich. His 
kindness for me took its rise from the Austrian decla- 
ration of w"ar in 1809. At that time I received orders 
from the emperor to have him seized, in defiance of 
tlie laws of nations, by a brigade oi gendarmerie, to be 
conducted under this escort to the confines of Austria, 
subjecting him at the same time to every severity 
which could increase the insult offered to him. Much 
hurt at such unhoard-of treatment, I undertook, at least, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 369 

to soften down the execution of it. I immediately or- 
dered my carriage, and repaired to the ambassador's ; 
I explained to him the object of my visit, and express- 
ed the deep regret it caused me. A mutual explana- 
tion followed, sufficient, at least, for us to understand 
each other. Having requested Marshal Moncey to 
appoint a captain of gendarmerie, whose amiable and 
polite manners might qualify, in some degree, the in- 
sulting nature of his commission, I ordered him to take 
his seat in the travelling-carriage of the ambassador, to 
whom I allowed the requisite time for preparation. 
Upon taking leave, he expressed to me his deep sense 
of obligation for the attentions and delicacy I had ob- 
served upon this occasion. 

My ideas, therefore, being thus settled, and being 
urged by the emperor and Berthier, I began my jour- 
ney, in company with M. de Chassenon, inspector-ge- 
neral of the grand army, and took the road to Prague, 
— not, however, without having, previous to my depar- 
ture from Dresden, paid my respects to the venerable 
monarch of Saxony, who had devoted himself with so 
much perseverance to the French cause. I had an op- 
portunity of remarking how much the Saxons regret- 
ted seeing their king thus identified with the interests 
of Napoleon, and how clearly they foresaw the misfor- 
tunes which might accrue from it. 

I arrived at Prague at the moment of the expected 
opening of the congress, upon which, however, I found- 
ed not the slightest hopes, as, in my eyes, it was noth- 
ing more than one of those diplomatic farces played off 
to justify the employment of force. M. de Metternich 
and the plenipotentiaries of Russia and Prussia had just 
arrived, and the whole Austrian chancery had already 
taken up its quarters. Of the two French plenipoten- 
tiaries 1 only found Narbonne ; he was expecting Cau- 
laincourt, and was ordered not to act without his col- 
league. Some difficulties had already preceded the 
meeting of the congress ; Napoleon had just protested 
against the nomination of M. d'Anstett, the Russian 
47 



370 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

plenipotentiary, a Frenchman by birth, born in Alsace, 
and whom he designated in his Moniieur as a most ac- 
tive agent of war. Besides these altercations, it was 
expected that questions relating to form and ceremony 
would arrest the progress of atfairs at their very outset. 
Napoleon had entered into the same explanation with 
Narbonne as with me. " The peace that I will not 
make," he had said to him, " is that which my enemies 
wish to impose upon me. Be assured, he who has al- 
ways dictated peace cannot, in his turn, tamely submit 
to it. If I abandon Germany, Austria will fight with 
still more ardour till she obtain Italy ; if I cede Italy, 
she will, in order to secure her possession of it hasten 
to expel me from Germany." The only positive in- 
struction Narbonne had yet received was to endeavour 
not to place Austria in a hostile position. I communi- 
cated to him the emperor's intention relatively to a se- 
cret negotiation, and he augured as unfavourably from 
it as 1 did myself. 

I found myself at Prague in a sphere entirely new to 
me, and on a ground with which I was equally unac- 
quainted. It was known that I had arrived there mere- 
ly on my way forward. Much delicacy was required 
in getting an interview with the head of the Austrian 
chancery. I everywhere found the same mistrust with 
respect to Napoleon, and complaints, more or less well 
founded. I was assured, for example, that, since the 
month of December, 1812, he had offered to abandon 
to Austria Italy, the Illyrian provinces, the supremacy 
of Germany, and, in short, to re-establish the ancient 
splendour of the court of Vienna ; but that he no sooner 
saw himself enabled to open a new campaign, than he 
had eluded all his promises, confining himself to cede 
nothing but a few trifling advantages, which could bear 
no proportion whatever to what Austria naturally ex- 
pected, in order to resume her rank and preponderance 
m Europe. 

The cabinet of Vienna evidently wished to profit by 
the diminution of our power, to recover what it had 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 371 

lost bj the peace of Presburg and that of Schoenbrunn. 
It attached but little value to the regaining of Illyria. 
which could not fail, on the first shot, returning under 
its vast dominion. 

1 learnt at Prague that the northern coalition had 
just declared against the confederation of the Rhine, 
at the opening even of the campaign ; and that on the 
25th of March Marshal Kutusoff had announced, by a 
proclamation published at Kalisch, that the confedera- 
tion of the Rhine was dissolved. This was a species 
of sanction offered beforehand to the defection of the 
German troops employed in our armies. I likewise 
learnt, that the conference at Reichenbach had been 
just resumed at Trachenberg ; that the Emperor of 
Russia, the King of Prussia, and the Prince Royal of 
Sweden, Avere present at them, as well as M. de Stadion 
on the part of Austria, and the Earl of Aberdeen for 
England, as well as the generals-in-chief of the combin- 
ed army. There the forces which the coalesced pow- 
ers were about to devote to the most determined war 
ever undertaken against Napoleon were decided upon : 
there their movements of attack and their offensive ope- 
rations were planned ; in short, the rendezvous of the 
three grand armies was appointed to be in the very camp 
of the enemy. It was impossible not to perceive an 
understanding in all the contracting parties, about to be 
cemented by treaties of partition and subsidy. 

It was, however, decided to open the congress, but 
to inclose Napoleon in it in the circle of Popilius. Al- 
though not openly admitted to the conferences, England 
was undoubtedly the soul of them ; it was she who was 
about to direct the negotiations. Thus there was no 
longer any doubt but that Austria was on the eve of 
joining the northern confederation, ^nd strengthening it 
by two hundred thousand troops of the line. To all 
that we could confidentially urge, in order to dissuade 
her, she replied, that it was scarcely possible to find in 
Napoleon any guarantee that she should not be exposed 
to fresh spoliations, while the state of affairs allowed 
him the means of oppression. 



372 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

All my efforts to renew the secret negotiation were 
unavailing. As to my private views, as their object 
was the future guarantee of our political establishment, 
I was informed that the plan of a regency in the inte- 
rests of Austria might influence the determinations of 
its policy, but not till suppositions should be converted 
into realities. I could not succeed in getting any provi- 
sionary engagement entered into, on the basis of contin- 
gent events; I merely obtained the assurance that they 
would only commence by the destruction of the exter- 
nal power of Napoleon, and that Austria would refuse 
to be a party to any plan for a violent change in the 
interior. I ought not to forget to mention that, among 
the complaints made to me by the Austrian chancery, 
I remarked its reproaches against Napoleon on account 
of the diatribes of his Monitem\ as well as of certain 
articles inserted in other journals. 1 quitted Prague 
certainly with more information, but without having 
found there the least shadow of a guarantee for the fu- 
ture ; on the contrary, I carried with me the melancho- 
ly conviction that a million of soldiers were about to 
decide the fate of Europe ; and that in this vast conflict 
it would be difficult to stipulate in time for the interests 
which I had combined, and of which no diplomacy 
would make an object of primary importance. 

In traversing the Austrian monarchy, in my way to 
lllyria, my journey, although a very rapid one, aflbrded 
me much instruction. I first was convinced that this 
compact monarchy, although composed of so many diffe- 
rent states, was better governed and administered than 
is generally supposed ; that it v;as also inhabited and 
defended by a loyal and patient people ; that its policy 
possessed a kind of long suffering, well calculated to 
rise superior to reverses, for which it had always pallia- 
tions in reserve. By its perseverance in its maxims of 
state it triumphed, sooner or later, over the shifting 
policy of circumstance and contingency; in short, it was 
evident that Austria, by the entire development of its 
power, was about to throw a decisive weight into the 
palance of Europe 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 373 

I proceeded by the way of Gratz, the capital of Sti- 
ria, and by the Stirian Alps towards Laybach, the an- 
cient capital of the duchy of Carniola, at that time con- 
sidered the chief place of our Illyrian provinces. I ar- 
rived there towards the end of July, and immediately 
installed myself in quality of governor-general. These 
provinces, ceded by the treaty of peace of Schcenbrunn 
in 1809, were composed of Austrian Frioul, of the go- 
vernment of the town and port of Trieste, of Carniola, 
which includes the rich mine of Idria, of the circle of 
Willach, and of a part of Croatia and Dalmatia, — that 
is to say, all the country situated to the right of the 
Save, reckoning from the point where the river quits 
Carniola, and takes its course as far as the frontier of 
Bosnia. This last country includes Provincial Croatia, 
the six districts of Military Croatia, Fiume, and the 
Hungarian shore, Austrian Istria, and all the districts 
upon the right bank of the Save, to which the Thal- 
weg served as a boundary between the kingdom of 
Italy and the Austrian territory. From this description 
it will be perceived that they were an assemblage of 
heterogeneous parts, each repelling the other; but 
which, had they been longer united to the French em- 
pire, might have formed one whole, and acquired from 
their position considerable importance, — the more so as 
Dalmatia and a part of Albania were comprised in 
them. The sensation caused by my arrival in these 
provinces was the greater, because my name, as former 
minister of the general police, was known there, and I 
replaced in the civil and military government an aid-de- 
camp of the emperor, one of his favourites, Junot, Duke 
of Abrantes, who had just given an evident proof of 
madness. The circumstances relative to poor Junot 
are these : the corrosive effect of the severe climate of 
Russia upon the wound which had disfigured him in 
Portugal, domestic cares, and resentment at not having 
obtained a marshal's staff, had so affected his senses, 
that six weeks before my arrival, the aberration of his 
mind had been evinced in public. One day, making his 



374 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

aid-de-carap get into his caleche, to which six horses 
were harnessed, and which was preceded bj a piquet 
of cavalry, he himself, covered with his decorations, and 
having a whip in his hand, mounted the coach-box. 
Thus exposed, he rode for several hours, from one end 
of the town of Goritz to the other, in the midst of the 
crowd of astonished inhabitants. The next day he dic- 
tated the most absurd orders and letters, which he 
ended with this formula : " I, therefore, sir, pray that 
Saint Cunegunda will take you into her gracious favour 
and protection." Actions still more deplorable follow- 
ed this; and the unfortunate Junot was sent back to 
France, where he died a fortnight after in consequence 
of a paroxysm, in which he threw himself out of a win- 
dow in his father's chateau. Such was the man whom 
I had come to replace in the government of the pro- 
vinces, which, though least harmonizing with what was 
called the French empire, were still governed upon the 
principles of conquest. It is true, I was to be seconded 
by Lieutenant-General Baron Fresia, appointed com- 
mander-in-chief, subjected to my immediate orders. 
This general officer, one among the Piedmontese who 
had most distinguished himself in the French armies, 
possessed much penetration and ability, and commanded 
a division of cavalry in the grand army at Dresden, when 
the emperor sent him into the Illyrian provinces. 

We were here under a pure and mild climate ; the 
.country around us offered the greatest variety, and, 
ithough sometimes wild, was always picturesque; while 
among its inhabitants might at times be perceived the 
traces of advanced civilization, at others the manners of 
the primeval ages. Upon quitting Dresden, when tak- 
ing leave of the emperor, he told me that, in his hands, 
Illyria was an advanced guard upon Austria, and ade- 
quate to be a check upon her ; a sentinel at the gates of 
Vienna to force obedience; that, notwithstanding it had 
never been his intention to retain it ; that he had only 
taken it as a pledge, it having been at first his intention 
to exchange it for Gallicia, and now, of offering it to his 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 375 

father-in-law to retain his alliance. I, however, had per- 
ceived from his vacillation, that he formed various pro- 
jects upon this said Illyria. He told me besides, that, 
at all events, he intended sending to the prince viceroy, 
Eugene Beauharnois, orders to be in readiness upon the 
Italian frontier, to make a vital attack upon the heredi- 
tary states, should the court of Vienna declare against 
us ; he added that, at the same time, he would give di- 
rections to the Bavarian army, to Augereau's corps of 
observation, and the corps and cavalry under General 
Milhaud, to second the enterprise of the viceroy, whom 
he had ordered to penetrate even as far as Vienna. 
But might not Napoleon deceive himself in these his 
gigantic views, and might he not propose them merely 
with the view of intimidating: Austria. 

I had scarcely arrived at my government when I was 
convinced that the season for bold projects was passed, 
and that all idea of forming powerful diversions in the 
very heart of the hereditary states must be abandoned.^ 
In Illyria we had nothing but feeble detachments, and 
since the disasters of the campaign of Moscow, the mili- 
tary power of Italy was almost annihilated. Three 
corps of observation having been successively drawn 
from it since 1812, had completely exhausted all the 
French and Italian battalions; the garrisons were com- 
pletely drained of troops, and the different depots had 
nothing but the numbers of the regiments; the viceroy, 
however, had just received a positive order to raise a 
new army with the utmost expedition. For this pur- 
pose the conscriptions of the departments bordering 
upon the kingdom of Italy were assigned over to him. 
The recruiting was rapid, but the skeleton regiments 
were with difficulty being completed, and this army, 
which was to consist of fifty thousand men, was still un- 
organized and without materiel; when Narbonne in- 
formed me, by a letter from Prague, of the rupture of 
the congress. It was there that the fiat of Austria had 
at length been pronounced on the 7th of August ; she 
had demanded the dissolution of the duchy of Warsaw, 



376 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

and the partition of it between herself, Russia, and 
Prussia; the re-establishment of the Hanseatic towns 
in their independence ; the re-integration of Prussia 
with a frontier on the Elbe ; and the cession to Austria 
of all the Illyrian provinces, including Trieste. The 
question of the independence of Holland and Spain was 
referred to a general peace. Napoleon employed the 
whole of the 9th in deliberating. He at length decided 
upon giving a first answer, in which, accepting one part 
of the conditions, he rejected the others. The Uth 
was passed in awaiting the effect ; but he soon learnt 
that in the morning the congress was broken up. The 
same day Austria abandoned our alliance for that of our 
enemies, and the Russian troops penetrated into Bohemia. 
Napoleon accepts too late, in their full extent, the con- 
ditions prescribed by M. de Metternich; but these con- 
cessions, which would have insured a peace on the 10th, 
were of no avail on the 12th. Austria declared war, 
and adjourned, sine die, the question of the re-assembly 
of the congress. Upon receiving this letter I had not 
the least doubt but that the attack would commence 
Jby lUyria. 

When traversing the hereditary estates, the continual 
movement of the Austrian troops did not escape my no- 
tice. I learnt that field-marshal lieutenant Hiller was 
expected at Agram ; that he had been preceded there 
by generals Frimont, Fenner, and Morshal ; that the 
strength of the army of which he was about to take 
the command, would amount to forty thousand men, 
and that the troops in Austrian Croatia had been alrea- 
dy placed upon a war footing. Upon my arrival, I had 
immediately despatched intelligence of this to the prince 
viceroy. Every report I received announced that among 
the inhabitants of French Croatia, there were secret 
practices and silent machinations being carried on by 
Austrian agents, sent for that purpose on the other side 
of the Save; they were organizing an insurrectional 
movement which might assist the invasion. In fact, on 
the 17th of August, the day after the 'expiration of the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 377 

German armistice, two Austrian columns, without any 
previous declaration of war, crossed the Save at Sissek 
and at Agram, directing their march upon Carlstadt and 
Fiume. General Jeanin, in command at Carlstadt, the 
chief town of French Croatia, made at first some show 
of defence, but abandoned by the Croatian soldiers un- 
der his orders, and attacked by the insurgent inhabi- 
tants, he effected his retreat almost alone, to Fiume. 
"Less fortunate, the governor of Croatia, M. de Con- 
tades, being arrested during his flight, was in danger of 
i€)sing his life. Having almost by a miracle escaped the 
fury of the inhabitants, who were infuriated against all 
persons employed in the French administration, he was 
detained a prisoner by General Nugent, who would not 
consent to restore him his liberty, without being autho- 
rized so to do by the court of Vienna. 

The behaviour of the Croatians, upon this occasion, 
occasioned me no surprise. I was aware of their at- 
tachment to the Austrian government. Almost all the 
other parts of the Illyrian provinces followed the exam- 
ple of Croatia. The towns even of Zara, Ragusa, and 
•Cattaro, defended by Generals Roise, Montrichard,and 
"Gauthier, with weak garrisons of Italians, and a few 
French officers, were soon besieged by the Austrian 
troops, seconded by the free companies of Dalmatia. 
'Upon the first intelligence of these movements, I had 
caused the fortresses of Laybach and Trieste to be put 
into a state of defence. Having gained intelligence that 
the Austrian general, Hillcr, commander-in-chief of the 
enemies' forces, was uniting at Clagenfurt the greatest 
part of his forces, with the vicAV of forcing Willach and 
Tarvis, and of afterwards penetrating into the Tyrol, 
by the valley of La Drave, 1 immediately sent informa- 
tion of it to the prince viceroy. He had already set his 
aiTuy in march upon Illyria. The arrival of the Italian 
division of General Pino, at Laybach enabled me to 
make head against hostilities. 

I, however, did not deceive myself; Hiller was ma- 
noeuvring with forty thousand men, besides which, all 
48 



378 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

the population was in his favour. The viceroy reduc- 
ed, either by the numerical weakness of his army, or 
the inexperience of his troops, to a defensive war, with 
the mere hope of gaining time, could not think of re- 
occupying the line of the Save, which the enemy had 
already left behind. As the greatest part of the Aus- 
trian forces were in march upon Clagenfurt, it was real- 
ly to be feared that the enemy might succeed in forc- 
ing the positions of Tarvis and Willach. This move- 
ment would have exposed the left of the viceroy's ar- 
my, and opened to the Austrians an entrance into the 
Tyrol, through the valley of La Drave. The prince 
took up the position of Adelberg, his left being at the 
sources of the Save, and his right included towards 
Trieste. Upon his extreme left, he had ordered the 
passes of the Tyrol to be guarded by a detached 
corps. 

The enemy, however, continued offensive operations. 
Fiume and Trieste, which they had taken without much 
effort, were retaken by General Pino with like facility. 
Willach, which was successively lost and recovered, suf- 
fered more from the battle than the combatants them- 
selves. The only operation of vigour was the carry- 
ing the camp of Felnitz, by Lieutenant-general Grenier. 

Thus passed all the month of September. As the 
emperor had observed, the fate of Italy was to be 
decided in Germany. At Dresden the rupture had 
been followed by military events of far greater impor- 
tance. 

But the battle of Dresden, while it diffused joy 
among the emperor's adherents, proved but a transient 
gleam of hope for them ; they found themselves again 
plunged in doubt and alarm. The intelligence of the 
reverses of Katsbach, Gross-Beeren, and Culm, began 
to transpire at Paris and Milan. I learnt from my cor- 
respondents, that eighteen days had elapsed without 
the arrival of any couriers at Paris. Rumours began 
to spread a gloom over France, the emperor was los- 
ing the confidence of his people. 1 was informed that 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 379 

royalist intrigues were again afloat in La Vendee, and 
at Bordeaux ; and that it was whispered, in the parties 
and the saloons of the metropolis, This is the beginning 
of the end. 

The same might be said of Italy. Since the last news 
from Germany, the Austrian generals opposed to us 
showed themselves more and more confident ; while 
on our side, the Italian troops no longer manifested the 
same ardour. 

One of their chiefs, General Pino, who had at first 
manoeuvred under my direction, for the defence of Illy- 
ria, revealing the secret dismay which pervaded the 
ranks, suddenly quitted the army, and retired to Milan, 
where he awaited the result of the campaign. 

1 went to confer upon the state of affairs with the 
prince viceroy, whom I found extremely uneasy, but 
firmly devoted to the emperor. He was much hurt at 
the rupture, and had no longer any confidence in the 
fortune of Napoleon : " It had been better," said he to 
me, " if he had lost without too great a sacrifice, 
the two first battles in the commencement of the 
campaign; he would have retreated in time behind 
the Rhine." I did not conceal from him that I had 
given him that advice at Dresden, but that nothing 
could make an impression upon him. " It is," said I 
to him, " the more unfortunate, because at the first 
battle be loses in person, the political reorganization 
will be settled without him." Eugene was struck with 
this reflection, and for the first time, perhaps, he was 
awake to the instability of his political establishment. 
I did not open myself further upon this occasion, having 
but little confidence in those about him. He at length 
owned to me, what I had foreseen, that he had strong 
reasons for believing that Bavaria was at this moment 
about to detach itself from our alliance ; that the Bava- 
rian army upon the frontiers of Austria had made no 
movement to arrest those of the Austrians, who Avere 
advancing in great force, although slowly, through the 
valley of La Drave towards the Tyrol ; that himself 



380 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

being no longer able to govern Italy, he was about to re- 
treat behind the Isonzo, in order to interpose the defiles 
between him and the enemy. " If, contrary to all ex- 
pectation," said I to him, "you cannot make a stand 
there, endeavour, for I have more confidence in your 
talents than in your troops, at least to dispute for some 
time the country betv»?een the Piave and the Adige, in 
order to allow time for events to develope themselves. 
It will bs doing a great deal, if, during the approaching 
winter, you can cover Mantua, Verona, Milan, and the 
mouths of the Po." 

He immediately made his arrangements for retreat- 
ing, and I on my side evacuated Laybach, after having 
left In the castle the shadow of a garrison, chiefly com- 
posed, of convalescents, whom I placed under the com- 
mand of Colonel Leger. I followed the army, which 
had just occupied the line of the Isonzo. The same 
day, the Austrians having appeared in force upon 
Trieste, Lieutenant-General Fresia finally evacuated 
that place by my orders, leaving in the castle a very 
small garrison only, commanded by Colonel Rabie, who, 
after a very gallant defence, capitulated about a month 
afterwards. From the head-quarters of Gradisca, I 
addressed my report to the emperor. I represented to 
him, that the viceroy, thinking it his duty to listen only 
to prudential motives, had just ordered the retreat upon , 
Isonzo ; that, in consequence of this movement, the II- 
lyrian provinces were henceforth lost ; but that the ob- 
jects to which the arms of Italy would direct its efforts 
possessed also their advantages ; that they left nothing 
to chance, and might for some time yet insure the tran- 
quillity of Italy. I added, that as my mission was now 
nearly at an end, 1 begged him to give me some other 
_,.___^appointment, and that I awaited his orders. 

In expectation either of events, or of Napoleon's de- 
cision with respect to me, I was induced to take a view 
of Lombardy, of that magnificent country, to the liberty 
of Avhich I had devoted myself when entering the ca- 
reer of hh^h official duties. Alas ! that also was a suf- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 3M 

iaver under imperial oppression, and its political destiny 
depended but too much upon that of Napoleon. 

By conquering Italy we had introduced into it our 
activity, industry, and a taste for the arts and for luxu- 
ry. Milan was the city which derived the greatest ad- 
vantages from the French revolution, which we had' 
transplanted there. Milan received a still greater lus-^ 
tre when it became the capital of a kingdom ; a court, 
a council of state, a senate, a diplomatic corps, ministers, 
civil and military appointments, and tribunals of justice, 
added nearly twenty thousand inhabitants to its popula- 
tion, which exceeded one hundred thousand souls. Milan 
was considerably improved and embellished ; but its 
brilliant period was of short duration, like that of all 
the kingdoms which the ambition of the conqueror soon 
exhausted both of men and money in his vain intention 
of subjecting the world. The Viceroy Eugene was soon 
nothing more in the eyes of the Lombards than the obe- 
dient executor of all his wishes. After the affair of 
Moscow, in Italy as in France all the springs of govern- 
naent had lost their elasticity. The conviction of Na- 
poleon's power was detroyed, the moment the illusion 
of his military fortune became eclipsed. Latterly, Eu- 
gene seemed to fear making himself popular, lest he 
should give him offence. Eugene, although a brave 
soldier and of approved loyalty, was parsimonious, rath- 
er light, too docile to the advice of those who flat- 
tered his taste, but little acquainted with the character 
of the people whom he governed, and placing too much 
confidence in a few ambitious Frenchmen ; he needed 
an equal degree of political knowledge to that which 
he possessed of military affairs. During these latter 
days of difficulty, this prince completed the people's 
discontent by conscriptions and forced requisitions ; in 
short, the viceroy yielded too much both to the exam- 
ple and the impulse of the sovereign ruler. His posi^- 
tion became the mortj difficult, as he had soon against 
him both the partisans of Italian independence and those 
of the ancient order of things. The first becoming 



3^2 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

daily more irritated, looked round for assistance. Like 
his adoptive father, Eugene found no other for the 
maintenance of authority, but in his army, which he lost 
no time in organizing and disciplining. 

All was suspense in Italy. It was known that three 
large armies in Germany surrounded, so to speak, the 
Emperor's, with the intention of manoeuvring upon the 
basis of his line of operations at Dresden ; and if the 
events of war should prove favourable to them, of unit- 
ing in the rear of this line between the Elbe and the 
Saal. It was likewise knoAvn, that to oppose these three 
grand allied armies. Napoleon had scarcely two hundred 
thousand men, divided into eleven bodies of infantry, four 
of cavalry, and his guard which presented a formidable 
reserve. Lastly, we had just learnt that he had re- 
solved, in order to avoid being completely surrounded, 
to abandon his central position at Dresden, to manoeu- 
vre at Magdeburg and on the Saal. Suddenly, towards 
the end of October, I received from the Viceroy's head 
quarters a note conceived in these terms : " For refus- 
ing to give up an)' thing, he has lost all." My anxiety 
and impatience to know the extent of what had taken 
place may easily be imagined. The next day gloomy 
reports were propagated respecting the fatal battles of 
Leipsic, which would have the effect of forcing Napo- 
leon back upon the Rhine, followed by all Europe in 
arms. Now were realized all my presentiments, all my 
foresiofht. But what would become of us ? What fate 
was reserved for the tottering empire? It was easy to 
foresee that the emperor's enormous power, if not en- 
tirely destroyed, would at least be diminished. On the 
one hand I did not shut my eyes to the species of op- 
position he might meet with in the interior of the em- 
pire ; all the constituent elements of public power were 
known to me ; I could appreciate the persons possess- 
ing more or less influence, and form an opinion of their 
courage and energy. A bold man was now necessary, 
and there were none but cowards. The only man who, 
by his talents and ability, could direct events, and save 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 383 

the revolution, had no political nerve, and was fearful of 
losing his head. As to myself, who certainly would not 
have been wanting in resolution, I was far removed 
from the centre, whether by fortuitous chances, or by 
pre-concerted arrangements. I was burning with im- 
patience ; and, having resolved to brave everything, in 
order to re-enter the capital, there to resume the se- 
cret clues of a plot which would have conducted us to"^ 
a happy issue, was already on my way, when a letter 
from the emperor, dated Mayence, ordered me, in an- 
swer to my last despatch, to proceed to assume the go- 
vernment of Rome, which till then 1 had only nomi- 
nally enjoyed. I perceived the blow, but there were 
no means of parrying it; the man who was thus being 
th'fe destruction of the empire, found himself still secure 
amid the wrecks of his military power. I lingered on 
my journey, in order to observe the course of events, 
and in expectation of receiving from my confidential 
friends in Paris positive information as to the sensation 
which would be produced by the sudden return of the 
emperor, after these fresh disasters. But how well I 
knew the ground, and how correctly had I judged of 
the men who occupied it ! There were not twenty se- 
nators who did not consider the empire out of danger, 
because the emperor was safe ! Not a grand functionary 
who suspected that the arms of Europe were able to 
cross the Rhine. In spite of the stupor which univer- 
sally prevailed, a wilful blindness still created illusions 
in favour of power. I must, however, except that able 
man, whom I have sufficiently designated with a pro- 
found and hidden irony ; he seemed to espy the mo- 
ment of a fall, which appeared to him not to have yet 
arrived at its lowest point. 

Italy in the mean time was undergoing great changes; 
abandoning successively the Isonzo, the Tagliamento, 
the Piave, and the Brenta, the viceroy had recently 
repassed the Adige, and fixed his head-quarters at 
Verona. The Austrian army, continually advancing and 
receiving reinforcements, established itself at Vicenza, 



384 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

at Bassano, and Mon te bell o, already forming the block* 
ades of Venice, Palraa, Nuova, and Osopo. In the 
secret negotiations with which I had been intrusted, 
the cession of the Venetian states as far as the Adige 
•had been consented to, as one of the preliminaries of 
peace with Austria. But where would the pretensions 
of that power now stop? The two armies remained 
thus in presence of each other, as in winter-quarters. 
It was upon the South of Italy that all eyes were fixed, 
and whence were expected the military and political 
events, which would impart activity to the two armies in 
observation of each other, on the Brenta and the Adige. 
Murat, conceiving the fortunes of Napoleon entirely lost, 
after the affair of Leipsic, returned in all haste to Naples, 
to resume the plan which he supposed would maintain 
him on the throne, even after the ruin of him who had 
placed him on it. In an interview with Count de Mier, 
at the head-quarters of Ohlendorf in Thuringia, on the 
23d of October, he sketched out, so to speak, his acces- 
sion to the coalition, and his treaty with the Austrian 
court. I had not, at that time, any certain data respect- 
ing Murat's intentions, but I foresaw his change of 
policy. I have learnt that upon arriving at Lodi, on 
his way from Leipsic and Milan, whilst he was changing 
horses, several Italians of distinction were surrounding 
his coach; and upon one of them asking if he would 
soon come and assist the viceroy, " Certainly," replied 
he, with his Gascon manner, " before a month is over, 
I shall come to assist you with fifty thousand good 

, ," using a most indelicate expression, and he set 

off with the rapidity of lightning. I inferred from this 
that he said just the contrary to what he intended. 
In fact, it thus formed part of Murat's plans to enter 
into alliance with Austria, at the same time that he 
represented himself to the Italians as the support of 
their independence ; I also learnt, that while traversing 
Northern Italy, he had received very graciously several 
Italian noblemen and general ofiicers, who were also 
labo\iringfor the liberation of their country, promising 



MEJUOIRS OF FOUCHE. 385 

them to embrace their cause, and lead an army on the 
Po. 

Upon my arrival at Rome, I found General Miollls 
and the Governor, Janet, full of mistrust and suspicions 
respecting Murat's conduct ; who they told me was 
openly making his court to the coalition, and Avas organ- 
izing a new army, partly composed of Neapolitans, Ita- 
lian deserters, Corsicans, and Frenchmen. Every in- 
formation from Naples announced, that he had just 
abolished the continental system from his dominions, 
granting at the same time, the entry of his ports to 
vessels of every nation; it was asserted that he was 
not only negotiating with the court of Vienna, but also 
with Lord William Bentinck, hoping to conclude a 
separate peace with Great Britain. The fears of the 
military commandant of Rome were shared by the 
viceroy, who despatched his aide-de-camp, Gifflenga, to 
Naples, in order to ascertain the king's intentions. This 
young officer, but little accustomed to the arts of that 
court, was cajoled by a few fair promises of peace and 
friendship. 

Murat, declaring himself for the Independence of 
Italy, found a party within the Roman states among 
the Carbonari and the Crivellari, a species of political 
illumlnati, who were raised among the chief grandees, 
the jurisconsults, and the Roman prelates. A priest of 
the name of Battaglia had just roused to insurrection 
the country about Viterbo ; he had placed himself at 
the head of a band of insurgents, seizing the public 
treasuries, and levying contributions upon persons at- 
tached to the French interest. At the same time, in- 
cendiary writings and proclamations were profusely 
spread throughout the pontifical domains. Miollls hav- 
ing set in motion the armed force, soon dispersed the 
bands of insurgents ; Battaglia having been arrested and 
conducted to Rome, his depositions sufficiently proved 
that he was the agent of the Neapolitan consul Zuccari, 
who was employed by his court to excite insurrection 
against the French dominion. It appeared to me that 
49 



386 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

great circumspection and prudence were requisite in 
opposing the practices of the Neapolitans, and that 
nothing should be undertaken unadvisedly. 

Murat, however, had set his troops in motion in the 
north of Italy. Early in December, a division of Nea- 
politan infantry and a brigade of cavalry, with sixteen 
pieces of artillery, entered Rome ; these troops were 
commanded by General Carascosa. Although the em- 
peror had given orders that the King of Naples should 
be treated as an ally, who was ready to show good inten- 
tions ; and notwithstanding the movement of this body 
had been concerted with the viceroy. General Miollis 
received the Neapolitans with much mistrust, ordering 
Civita Vecchia and the Castle of St. Angelo to be put 
into a posture of defence ; the money-chests, and other 
precious articles, were all removed to the latter fortress. 
Three or four Neapolitan divisions succeeded each other^ 
taking the road through the Abruzzo upon Ancona, and 
through Rome, either upon Tuscany, Pesaro, Rimini, 
and Bologna. It was to this last city that Murat had 
just sent Prince Pignatelli Strongoli, less to trace the 
route of his army, the object of whose appearance upon 
the Po seemed to be that of checking the Austrians, 
than to dispose all the friends of the independent cause 
to assist him in his enterprises. Pignatelli was commis- 
sioned to gain him partisans. 

In the mean time, I received from the emperor an 
order to repair to Naples, to endeavour to dissuade 
Murat from declarins: against him. I was instructed to 
conciliate him, and to employ the utmost address in this 
negotiation, and even to flatter him with the prospect 
that the marshes of Pesaro and Ancona, the spoils of 
the Roman state, and the objects of his ambition, should 
be ceded to him. My arrival at Naples was preceded 
by three letters from the emperor addressed to Joa- 
chim, one of them announcing my mission. I madp my 
entry at the court of Naples about the middle of 
December. Joachim's court was certainly a singular 
one, and his Vcsuvian royalty (^royaute du Vcsuve) most 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 387 

precarious, Murat possessed great courage, but little 
mind ; no great personage of his time carried further 
than himself whatever was ridiculous in ornament, and 
the affectation of pomp ; it was he whom the soldiers 
called the King Franconi. Napoleon, however, who 
did not mistake his brother-in-law's character, erro- 
neously supposed that Queen Caroline, his sister, an 
ambitious and haughty woman, would govern her hus- 
band, and that without her Murat could not be a king. 
But, from the commencement of his reign, suspecting 
the authority to which they wished to subject him as a 
husband, he endeavoured to free himself from it ; and 
the political circumstances in which he then found him- 
self the more effectually opposed the queen's ascen- 
dancy, as he was wholly surrounded by advisers who 
urged him to declare against Napoleon, representing 
this political veering about of system as a political 
necessity. 

In a court where policy was nothing but cunning, 
gallantry but dissoluteness, and external magnificence 
but theatrical pomp, I found myself nearly, if the com- 
parison be not considered too flattering to mvself, as 
Plato did at the court of Dionysius. Upon my arrival, 
I was beset by the intriguers of both nations, among 
whom, under the mask of a kind of ingenuousness, I 
recognised some emissaries from Paris. There were 
also some of these in the King's council ; and I was 
particularly on my guard against a certain Marquess de 
G . . . ., who, of the two meanings attaclied to his name 
in Latin, had all the vigilance of the one, and none of 
the candour of the other. In my first conferences in 
the presence of Murat, I was obliged to maintain a 
great reserve ; I affected to be without instructions, 
and begged the king would explain his political situa- 
tion to me. He confessed that it was critical and em- 
barrassing ; that on the one hand he was placed be- 
tween his people and his army, who detested all idea 
of persevering in an alliance with France ; on the oth- 
er, between the emperor Napoleon, who had left him 



388 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

without the least guide, and was continually giving him 
fresh cause for disgust — and the allied sovereigns, who 
insisted upon his immediately declaring his complete 
co-operation with the coalition. Again, that the Italian 
chiefs required him to concur in declaring the indepen- 
dence of their country, while the viceroy was decidedly 
opposed to all measures favourable to the independants, 
whether by the emperor's orders or to forward his 
own views. Lastly, added the king, I have to contend 
against the manoeuvres of Lord Bentinck, who, from his 
head-quarters in Sicily, is endeavouring to elFect an in- 
surrection in Calabria, and who assists with money and 
promises the Carbonari throughout the whole extent of 
my kingdom. I told the king that it was not for me to 
offer him any advice ; that as to himself a decided re- 
solution was all that was necessary : that to induce him 
to take one, and when taken firmly to adhere to it, was 
the utmost my duty required of me. 

The king, upon the breaking up of the conference, 
owned to me that having, a month ago, communicated 
to the emperor his fears that an Austrian detachment 
would march towards the mouths of the Po, he had en- 
treated him, upon this occasion, freely to renounce the 
direct possession of Italy, and by declaring its indepen- 
dence, thus complete the benefits he had already be- 
stowed upon that country. I replied to the king, that 
it was difficult to imagine the emperor would make a 
virtue of necessity ; but that, supposing he did, I should 
claim the prioi*ity for France — I who bad so often, and 
so vainly entreated Napoleon to render the war a na- 
tional one. 

My other conferences were all equally useless. Mu- 
rat had committed himself; his council impelled him 
more and more into the interests of the coalition — a 
political situation, incompatible with his project of call- 
ing Italy to independence. I pointed this out to him, 
but in vain ; 1 then confined myself to advise him in a 
secret conference, to increase his array, to have good 
troops, and, at any cost, to attach to his cause the sect 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 389 

of the carbonari^ whom he had, with much impohcy, 
persecuted, and who seemed to me to acquire greater 
consistence, in proportion as events became more seri- 
ous. I concluded by counselhng the king not to rely 
too much upon his princely crowd of Neapolitan nobles, 
but rather to surround himself by people whose excel- 
lence did not alone consist in their title, and to whose 
firmness and devotion he could entrust himself. 

My mission to Naples was not without its charms. I 
respired, in the midst of winter, the air of the finest 
climate in Europe ; I found myself courted and respect- 
ed by a brilliant court ; but all my thoughts were turn- 
ed towards France, and towards her my eyes were con- 
tinually directed. She was threatened with invasion ; 
foreigners were at her gates ; what would the emperor 
do ? what would become of him ? I was convinced that 
he would not have greatness of soul sufficient to in- 
duce him to identify himself with the nation. Isolated, 
his ruin was certain ; but the effects of his gradual fall 
might yet, for a long time, prove fatal to the country. 

Receiving no certain information, and having but un- 
certain notions upon the state of affairs in Paris, I has- 
tened to retake the road to Rome, to which city my 
private correspondence was addressed. I considered it 
the more imperative upon me to quit Mural's court, as 
I had certain intelligence that the arrival of Count Ney- 
perg, the Austrian plenipotentiary, empowered to con- 
clude the King of Naples' accession to the coalition, 
was hourly expected, and I should then have found my- 
self compromised at Naples. Having once more enter- 
ed the ancient capital of the world, I flew to open my 
despatches from Paris. They contained the intelligence 
1 had every moment expected, of the violation of the 
neutrality of Switzerland by the allies, and the invasion 
of our territory by the eastern frontier. By them I 
also learnt that the emperor could scarcely assemble 
between Strasburg and Mayence, some sixty thousand 
men in the space of a month, so great had been the ra- 
vages inflicted upon his armies by epidemic disorders 



390 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

and disorganization ; but that he still obstinately reject- 
ed the fundamental bases (bases sonimaires) which the 
allies had just sent him from Frankfort, notwithstand- 
ing that Talleyrand, in the council, strongly urged him 
to make peace, assuring him, in the most positive terms^ 
that he deceived himself as to the energies of the na- 
tion, and that it would not second his eiforts, and that 
he would ultimately find himself abandoned. Deaf to 
these prudent counsels, what did Napoleon meditate at 
this important crisis? A coup d'etat : that of proclaim- 
ing himself dictator. Indebted for his rise to the fac- 
tions and storms of a revolution in which words did 
much, he persuaded himself, (from a confusion of ideas 
respecting ancient history,) that the title of dictator 
alone Avould produce a great effect. He, however, 
gave this up, upon the representations of Talleyrand 
and Cambaceres. They observed to him that he must 
exercise the power without assuming the name ; that 
he could even lock up the senate-house without arro- 
gating any fresh title. He acted upon their sugges- 
tions ; the senate-house was, from this moment, placed 
under a guard. 

Such was the sum total of my correspondence ; and, 
yielding to the impressions such intelligence produced, I 
wrote to the emperor the following: letter: — 

" I have bid adieu to the King of Naples ; I ought 
not to conceal from your majesty any of the causes 
which have paralyzed the natural activity of that 
prince, 

" 1st. It is the uncertainty in which you have left 
him, with respect to the command of the armies of Ita- 
ly. The king, in these two last campaigns, has given 
you so many proofs of his devotion and his military abi- 
lities, that he expected from you this proof of confi- 
dence. He feels himself subject to a two-fold humilia- 
tion, that ol" being the object of your suspicions, and of 
being reduced to an equality with your generals. 

" 2d. It is continually suggested to the king, that if, 
in order to preserve Italy to the emperor, you exhaust 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 391 

your kingdom of troops, the English will effect a land- 
ing there, and will excite insurrections the more danger- 
ous because the Neapolitans loudly complain of French 
influence. Besides, it is added, what is the situation of 
this empire ? That of being without an army, and of 
being discouraged by the events of a campaign which 
the enemy do not consider the termination of its mis- 
fortunes, since the Rhine is no longer a barrier, and 
since the emperor, far from being able to preserve Ita- 
ly, can scarcely prevent the invasion of his German, 
Swiss, and Spanish frontiers. Take care of yourself, 
rely only upon jouv own resources, is the advice he is 
continually receiving from Paris. The emperor can no 
long-er do any thing for France ; how then can he se- 
cure your dominions ? If, at the period of his greatest 
power, it had been his intention to have incorporated 
Naples in the empire, what sacrifice can you expect him 
to make for you now ? He would, at this moment, 
abandon you for a fortress. 

" 3d. On the other hand, your enemies opposed to 
this picture of the situation of France, that of the im- 
mense advantages which are likely to accrue to the 
king by joining the coalition : this prince, by so doing, 
consolidates his throne and aggrandizes his power; in- 
stead of making the emperor an useless sacrifice of his 
glory and his crown, he will diffuse over both the most 
brilliant lustre by proclaiming himself the defender of 
Italy, and the guarantee of her independence. If he 
declare himself for your majesty, his army abandons 
him, and his people rise in insurrection. If he abandon 
your cause, all Italy crowds beneath his banners. Such 
is the language addressed to the king by men who are 
closely attached to your government. Perhaps, bv do- 
ing so, they only deceive themselves as to the means of 
being serviceable to your majesty. Peace is necessary 
to the world ; and to persuade the king to place him 
self at the head of Italy, is, in their opinion, the surest 
method of forcing you to make peace. 

"I arrived at Rome on the lf>th: there, as throusrh- 



392 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

out all Italy, the word independence has acquired a ma-' 
gical virtae. It cannot be denied, that under this ban- 
ner are ranged opposing interests ; but each country de- 
mands a local government ; and each complains of be- 
ing obliged to make their appeal to Paris, upon subjects 
even of the least importance. The French govern- 
ment, at so great a distance from the capital, only causes 
them heavy charges without any equivalent. 

" ' Ail,' say the Romans, ' that we know of the go- 
vernment of France, is conscriptions, taxes, vexations, 
privations, and sacrifices. Add to which, we have nei- 
ther interior nor exterior commerce ; we have no means 
of disposing of our produce, and for the trifling articles 
we obtain from foreign countries, we pay most extrava- 
gantly.' Sire, when your majesty was at the acme of 
glory and power, I had the courage to tell you the 
truth, for it was the only thing of which you then stood 
in need. I ought now to declare it to you with the 
same fidelity, but with greater delicacy, since you are 
unfortunate. Your speech to the legislative body would 
have made a deep impression upon Europe, and would 
have touched all hearts, if your majesty had added to 
the wish you expressed for peace, a magnanimous re- 
nunciation of your former plan of universal monarchy. 
So long as you are not explicit upon this point, the al- 
lied powers will believe, or will say, that this system 
is only deferred, and that you will avail yourself of 
events to recommence it. The French nation itself will 
be subjected to the same apprehensions. It appears to 
me, that if, under these circumstances, your were to 
concentrate all your forces between the Alps, the Pyre- 
nees, and the Rhine, and make a candid declaration that 
you would not overstep those natural frontiers, you 
might then command both the wishes and the arms of 
the nation in defence of your empire; and truly, this 
empire would still be the finest and most powerful in 
the world; it would still be sufficient for your glory 
and the prosperity of France. I am convinced that 
you can never procure a real peace, but at this price. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 393 

I tremble at being the only one to hold this lan- 
guage to you ! Mistrust the lying lips of your syco- 
phants ; experience should have taught you to appre- 
ciate them. These are they who induced you to 
march into Spain, Poland, and Russia ; who persuaded 
you to remove your real friends; and who still more, 
recently dissuaded you from signing peace at Dresden. 
These are they who now deceive you, and who exag- 
gerate your resources. You have still enough left to 
be happy, and to make France peaceful and prospe- 
rous ; but that is all, and of this truth all Europe is 
persuaded : it is even useless any longer to employ de- 
lusion — to deceive her is no longer possible. 

" I conjure your majesty not to reject my counsels ; 
they are the effusions of a heart which has never ceas- 
ed to be attached to you. I have not the egotism of 
affecting to see more or better than others; were all 
equally candid they would hold the same language to 
you. They would have spoken as I did after the peace 
of Tilsit, after the peace of Vienna, before the war 
against Russia, and lastly, at Dresden. 

" It is mortifying for the dignity of human nature, 
that I am the only one who dares to tell you what 1 
think. Should your majesty have to undergo new mis- 
fortunes, I shall not have to reproach myself with hav- 
ing suppressed the truth. In heaven's name put an 
end to the war; let mankind enjoy at least a momenta- 
ry repose." 

My letter was scarcely sent off, when Napoleon struck 
his last coup-d^etat, the dissolution of the legislative bo- 
dy. From the palace of the Tuileries, which ought 
only to have resounded with protestations of homage 
and fidelity, but which was suddenly transformed into 
an arena for pride, rage and malice, legislators, magis- 
trates, generals, and public functionaries were seen de- 
parting, struck with fear and apprehension. All were 
penetrated with profound grief at seeing a separation 
between the chief of the state and the nation, at the 
moment when there was the greatest necessity of mu- 
50 



394 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

tual confidence and assistance. Under what auspices 
then was the third lustrum of the empire about to be 
opened ? Was this year to be the last of its duration ? 
What gloomy prospects for the defence of the country 
invaded by five foreign armies, marching under the ban- 
ners of ail the potentates of Europe. In order to con- 
tinue to impose upon Austria, the emperor, who still 
thought he had it in his power to detach that power 
from the coalition whenever he pleased, at the com- 
mencement of the decisive campaign, intrusted the re- 
gency to Maria Louisa ; so that the empire in its last 
struggles had actually two governments, the one at Na- 
poleon's camp, the other at Paris. He soon even in- 
creased the absurdity both in theory and practice of 
this regency, by nominating his brother Joseph to the 
lieutenancy-general of the empire, almost at the very 
moment he had invested the empress with the execu- 
tive power. This was only infusing one more ingre- 
dient of division into his government. 

Such had not been the idea I had formed of a regen- 
cy of which, but for the evil destiny which detained me 
on the other side of the Alps, I could have ensured the 
success. 

I ask, who in this jumble of power was the person or 
authority that could really be considered as the deposi- 
tary of Napoleon's will? Joseph was but a counter- 
poise to the arch-chancellor Cambaceres, who himself 
counterbalanced the empress and Joseph, and the em- 
press was only introduced for form's sake. Cambaceres 
was therefore the grand pivot of the regency of Paris ; 
but he was subjected to the surveillance of the minister 
of police, a real domestic inquisitor. In itself, the police 
is nothing but an hidden power, the strength of which 
consists in the opinion it can impart of its force; then 
indeed it can become one of the greatest state weapons: 
but in the hands of a Savary, the talisman of the police 
was broken for ever. 

From what has been observed, it may be seen that 
no government was ever ready to fall under so many 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. . 39.^ 

precautions, perhaps even from excess of precaution. It 
is, however, a fact that all the authorities were unani- 
mously of opinion on one point, viz., the impossibility of 
preserving the government in the hands of Napoleon. 
But no one had the courage to declare this openly, and 
to act in consequence. What a disgrace that so many 
able and experienced men should have tamely permit- 
ted the destruction of the state, and have effected, under 
foreign protection, a revolution, which the country in 
tears entreated to be permitted to commence. O you 
who have said to me since, after the blow was struck. : 
Why were not you there? How does this reveal your 
baseness! I was not there precisely because I ought to 
have been there, and because it was foreseen, that by 
the force of things alone, all the interests of the revo- 
lution of which I was the representative would have 
prevailed, and averted the catastrophe. I was so little 
mistaken as to our real situation, that, anxious to hasten 
my return, and terminate my mission, I wrote the em- 
peror a second letter, in which I represented to him 
how contrary it was to his dignity that I should remain 
in the quality of his governor-general at Rome, when 
invaded by the Neapolitans ; besides that it became im- 
possible that Rome, Tuscany, and the Genoese states, 
could be preserved, if the King of Naples acceded to 
the coalition; and that in my opinion, policy required 
that he should enter into arrangements with that 
prince, to abandon to him the provisionary military oc- 
cupation of the countries that it would be impossible 
for us to guard or defend ; that by this we should ob- 
tain the double advantage of saving our garrison, and 
indirectly re-attaching the King of Naples to the French 
cause ; that, as to myself, finding my dignity wounded 
at Rome, where my authority could no longer possess 
any weight, I had taken the road to Florence, where I 
should await his final instructions. 

I found Florence, like the rest of Italy, unquiet, in 
suspense, and divided as to the opinion that might be 
formed of the movements of Murat towards upper Italy. 



3^6 aiEMOmS OF FOUCHE. 

The adherents of Napoleon asserted, that the Neapoli- 
tans still faithful and devoted to his cause only marched 
on the Po to second our efforts against the common 
enemy, and that Murat Avould come to command them 
in person. The partisans of independence saw nothing 
in the approach of the Neapolitans, but the near arri- 
val of auxiliaries who would assist them in throwing off 
the French yoke. Others, lastly, could not see without 
uneasiness, upon the theatre of upper Italy, a new ar- 
my, which in their eyes was nothing but a collection of 
vagabonds and thieves, forced into the service, and 
completely undisciplined. What, said they to me, is to 
be expected from a Carascosa, a man who supplies a 
want of ability by boasting ; from a Macdonaldo, the 
former aid-de-camp of the old Cisalpine general Tri- 
Yulzj, whose mistress he married, and who, not being 
able to obtain employment, either in France, or the 
kingdom of Italy, has entered the service of Murat in 
despair; what from the ex-general Lecchi, a Lombar- 
dian, one unfortunately notorious for his cruelties, his 
exactions, and his plunderings in Spain, and who, brought 
before a council of war in France, was dismissed without 
employment? Perhaps young Lavauguyon will be pane- 
gyrized, recently restored to Murat's favour, who, in a 
jealous fit, had disgraced him in 1811 ; a time when at 
the head of the chosen body guard, he was, according 
to some, too much remarked by Queen Caroline ; and 
to others, a still more happy rival to Murat. The 
other general possessed neither consistency nor respect. 
Thus I soon knew to what extent I could rely upon 
this Neapolitan army : it was composed of forty battal- 
ions, twenty squadrons, in all twenty thousand men, and 
fifty pieces of artillery ; in other respects it was tolera- 
f^ily provided, but its discipline was very bad. 

The government of Tuscany was the more uneasy 
respecting its arrival, as on the 10th of December, the 
English had effected a landing at Via-Reggio, and had 
afterwards appeared before Leghorn ; but the firmness 
pf the French garrison had compelled them to re-em* 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. , 397 

bark. This attempt of theirs, however, appeared to 
me only to be a first essay of their strength. 

It was in the midst of these circumstances that I pre- 
sented myself at the court of the grand duchess, where 
I met with a most gracious reception. In the duchess 
1 found a very singular woman ; and this time I had 
leisure to study her character. Ungifted with beauty 
and personal charms, Elisa was not void of wit, and the 
first movements of her heart were good; but an incu- 
rable defect in judgment, added to very amorous pro- 
pensities, continually betrayed her into errors and even 
excesses. Her mania consisted in imitating the habits 
of her brother, aifecting his brusquerie, his predilection 
for pomp and military parade, and neglecting the arts 
of peace, and even literature, of which formerly she 
had from taste professed herself the protectress. In a 
country where agriculture and commerce had flourished 
to so great a degree, she was solely occupied in forming 
a splendid and servile court, in organizing whole bat- 
talions of conscripts, appointing and cashiering generals. 
There, where formerly the universities of Pisa and Flo- 
rence, and the academies della Crusca, del Cimento, 
and del Disegno had shed so great a lustre, she permit- 
ted learning to languish and decay, granting her protec- 
tion solely to actors, rope-dancers, and musicians. In 
short, Elisa was feared, but not beloved. 

As to myself, far from having reason to complain of 
her, I found her discreet, affectionate, resigned even to 
the crosses with which she was threatened, and willing- 
ly yielding her own opinions to my experience and ad- 
vice. From that moment I directed her policy. She 
allowed me to perceive how much she was hurt, that 
Napoleon was about to lose not only the empire through 
his obstinacy, but even to sacrifice without hesitation 
the establishment of which his family was in possession. 
I then guessed all her fears, and well understood that 
she was alarmed at the precarious situation of Tuscany, 
which*it grieved her to think she was about to be de- 
prived of. I did not conceal from her, that at Dresden 



398 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

I had given Napoleon the most sincere and wholesome 
advice ; that I warned him he was about to stake, single- 
handed, his crown against the whole of Europe; that 
he ought to give up Germany, and then entrench him- 
self upon the Rhine, calling the nation to his assistance ; 
that he would be compelled against his own inclination 
to have recourse to this; but that then he would adopt, 
too late, a measure exacted by necessity. 

In the mean time, the different corps d^armee of Mu- 
rat successively arrived at their destination, either at 
Rome, or in the Marshes. General Lavauguyon, his 
aid-de-camp, who was at Rome at the head of five 
thousand Neapolitans, suddenly announcing himself as 
commander-in-chief of the Roman States, took posses- 
sion of the country. General Miollis, who had only 
eighteen hundred Frenchmen under his command, shut 
himself up in the castle of St. Angelo. Lavauguyon 
immediately summoned him to surrender, and invested 
the castle ; he demanded an interview with Miollis, 
which the latter decidedly refused. 

But shortly afterwards, Murat himself, who had left 
Naples on the 23d of January, made his entry into 
Rome with all that pomp to which he was so fondly 
attached; and was received by the independents with 
great demonstrations of joy. 

Murat caused it to be proposed to General Miollis, 
as well as to General Lascalcette, who defended Civita 
Vecchia with two thousand men, to return to Francq 
with their garrisons; both generals rejected his offer, 
and the king left a corps of observation to blockade 
both these places. At the same time he had caused 
the siege of Ancona to be commenced, a citadel into 
which General Barbou had retired. However, as yet 
there had been no open hostilities ; but the King of 
Naples, at the head of nine thousand infantry and four 
thousand cavalry, having entered Bologna, occupied Mo- 
dena, Ferrara, and Cento. His equivocal conduct, and 
the movement of his troops, which were advancing 
upon Parma and Tuscany, no longer left any doubt upon 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 399 

his intended defection. Joachim entered Bologna on 
the first of February. That very day he detached from 
his army General Minutolo, with eight hundred men, to 
take possession of Tuscany, to the government of which 
he nominated General Joseph Lecchi. Intelligence of 
this had no sooner arrived, than the utmost consterna- 
tion reigned in the court of the grand duchess, who 
complained bitterly of being thus despoiled by her 
brother-in-law. Being summoned to the council, and 
having been previously informed that the people every 
where met the Neapolitans with open arms, I advised 
the grand duchess to yield to the storm, and to retire 
either to Leghorn or Lucca. This resolution being ta- 
ken, she enjoined her husband, Prince Felix Baciocchi\ 
to evacuate Tuscany. 

I was a witness to this convulsion, which, upon a 
smaller scale, was but the type of what was soon to 
take place at Paris. But in Tuscany there was no 
effusion of blood, — on one side it was nothing but a flight, 
and on the other but a sarcastic war of words, with 
which the Florentines pursued the leaders and inferior 
officers of the government. Thus Baciocchi, upon the 
change in his fortune, had thought proper to change 
his name, and to adopt that of Felix (the happy) in- 
stead of Pascal, a name as ridiculous in Italy, as that of 
Jocrisse in France. The Florentines, therefore, in al- 
lusion to this, upon his forced retreat, indulged this jeu 
de mots, Quando cri Felice, eravamo Pasquali ; adesso 
che sei ritornato Pasquale, saremo felici. 

The prefect of Florence, my intimate friend, was not 
exempted from persecutions of this kind ; he was very 
strict with respect to the conscription, and whenever a 
person underwent hisexamination, generally sent him off 
to the army with the expression, bon a marcher ; when 
the authorities therefore were obliged to leave the city, 
he found written on his door, in large characters, bon a 
marcher. Whilst the grand duchess and I had retired 
to Lucca, Baciocchi was still in possession of the citadel 
and fortifications of the cities of Florence and Vol terra. 



400 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

I expected from day to day the powers I had request- 
ed for the mihtary evacuation of Tuscany and the Ro- 
man States. The grand duchess was equally desirous 
of seeing Tuscany dehvered from the French troops, in 
the hopes of coming to some arrangement with Muratj 
whose fortune appeared to her to offer more fortunate 
chances than that of Napoleon. She was especially 
mistrustful of little Lagarde, whom the emperor had 
set over her in quality of commissary-general of police, 
and who was indebted to me for his fortune. She even 
went so far as to suspect that he sent Napoleon ac- 
counts injurious to her as well as to me. Elisa spoke 
very freely on the subject, and one day expressed her 
anxious wish to get the portefeuille of this commissary 
into her possession, in order to see if her suspicions were 
well founded. Being myself persuaded that Lagarde's 
correspondence would be more unfavourable to me than 
to the grand duchess, I did not attempt to dissuade her 
from it, when she told me that she intended employing 
him on a mission to Pisa, and that she would afterwards 
have him stopped upon the road by men hired and 
masked for that purpose. I was much gratified in see- 
ing a commissary-general of police thus robbed upon 
the highway — one, too, who while affecting bluntness and 
extreme good nature, boasted of possessing more cun- 
ning than the most wily Italian. It was necessary to 
undeceive him as to his ability. In fact, upon his re- 
turn from Pisa, the persons hired for the purpose stopped 
him, made him alight from his coach, and, whilst two 
of them held him on the edge of a ditch, the others 
carried off his money, jewels, and even his papers, which 
were in a trunk in the front of the carriage. When 
we saw people in the greatest alarm come to inform 
us of the misfortune of the commissary-general, the 
grand duchess and myself had great difficulty to pre- 
serve our gravity, and we were obliged to withdraw 
aside to give vent to our inclination for laughter. This 
opera seria, however, disappointed us ; the pretended 
papers of the commissary-general which were brought 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 401 

us, consisted of a set of numbers of the Moniteur, which 
Lagarde, having a coach with a false bottom where he 
concealed his secret papers, had placed in the box in 
front. He escaped with the loss of his money, and his 
jewels ; and, according to every probability, with fear 
alone, for he could not fail to indemnify himself either 
at Florence or Paris. 

Murat, in the mean time, who now kept the diplo- 
matists in full play, endeavoured to fill all Italy with 
his name. He wrote me letter after letter, repeating 
that his alliance with the coalition appeared to him the 
only means of preserving the throne, and requiring me 
to tell the emperor the whole truth upon the actual 
state of Italy. I answered, that I had anticipated him 
in that point, and that he had no need to encourage me 
to tell the emperor the truth ; that I had always thought 
that to conceal it was to betray princes ; I insisted up- 
on the necessity of the King of Naples keeping up a 
good army as a means of influence with the coalition ; 
above all I recommended him to away with all irreso- 
lution ; it was extremely essential to his interests, I told 
him, to create for himself a great respect, and to make 
his character an object of esteem ; and since his resolu- 
tion appeared wavering, I owed it to the friendship he 
had testified for me, to own to him that the least hesi- 
tation would be fatal ; that it would draw upon him 
general want of confidence ; that he could, besides, pro- 
mote the interests of his country by contributing to the 
general pacification, and by suppoi;ting the dignity of 
thrones and the independence of nations. 1 added that 
I witnessed with regret the risings in the country; that 
those passions which could not be gratified ought not to 
be raised. Being also requested by this prince to send 
him in writing the reflections which I had made to him 
at Naples upon the constitutions required of him by the 
partisans of liberty, I warned him against letting him- 
self be induced to throw into the midst of the Neapoli- 
tan people ideas for which they were not at all pre- 
pared ; in short, said I to him, I fear that the word 
61 



402 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

constitution, which I hear every where upon my road, 
is nothing with the majority but a pretext for throwing 
off all obedience. The troops of Mu rat had arrived 
on the southern banks of the Po. By taking possession 
of Tuscany and the Roman States, he had declared 
against the emperor his brother-in-law, in favour of 
Austria. He had bound himself, without binding the 
opposite party ; for the treaty he had signed at Naples 
on the llth of January, with the Count de Neyperg, 
was not ratified. In consequence of the seriouspess of 
events, I judged it expedient again to confer with Mu- 
rat in person, and I had a secret interview with him at 
Modena. There I convinced him, since he had taken 
a decisive part, that he ought to announce it. " If you 
had," said I to him, " as much firmness of character as 
excellence of heart, you would be superior in Italy 
to the coalition. You can only conquer it here by 
much decision and frankness." He still hesitated ; 1 
communicated to him the latest news I had received 
from Paris. Determined by this, he confided to me his 
idea of a proclamation, or rather declaration of war, in 
which I suggested some alterations, which he made. 
This proclamation, dated from Bologna, was conceived 
in the following terms : — 

" Soldiers ! — So long as I thought the Emperor Napo- 
leon fought for the peace and the happiness of France, I 
fought at his side ; but now illusion is impossible ; the 
emperor's whole wish is for war. I should betray the 
interests of my former country, those of my dominions, 
and yours, did I not immediately separate my arms from 
his, to unite them with those of the allied powers, 
■whose magnanimous intentions are to re-establish the 
dignity of thrones and the independence of nations. 

" I know that attempts are made to warp the patri- 
otism of the Frenchmen who compose a part of my ar- 
my, by false sentiments of honour and fidelity ; as if 
any honour and fidelity Avere shown in subjecting the 
world to the mad ambition of the Emperor Napoleon. 

" Soldiers ! — There are no longer but two banners in 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 403 

Europe ; upon one you read : Religion, Morality, Jus- 
tice, Moderation, Laws, Peace and Happiness; — upon 
the other, Persecution, Deceit, Violence, Tyranny, War. 
and Grief in every family : choose." 

I had also to treat with Murat upon a particular bu- 
siness which involved my own interests; I had to claim, 
as governor-general of the Roman states and after- 
wards of Illyria, the arrears of salary, amounting to the 
sum of one hundred and seventy thousand francs. The 
King of Naples, having seized the Roman states and 
the public revenues, became responsible to me for my 
debt. He gave an order for it, the execution of which 
was attended with some delay ; however, before leav- 
ing Italy, I was enabled to say that I had not lost my 
time there for nothing. 

At Lucca I again found the grand duchess still in 
much trouble, and extremely uneasy respecting the as- 
pect of affairs. I announced to her that Murat was at 
length determined upon raising troops, but that I, ne- 
vertheless, doubted whether his operations would be 
directed by sufficient vigour and rectitude, to engage 
the confidence of his new allies; (hat the Austrian mi- 
nisters reproached him with being a (frenchman, and, 
above all, of being too much attached to the emperor ; 
that the revolutionists, who at this moment governed 
Florence, affirmed openly that the King of Naples was 
in intelligence with France, and that he was deceiving 
the Italians ; that they even went so far as to impute 
to my councils the inaction of the Neapolitan troops, 
whom the Austrians were impatient to see marched 
against the viceroy, who was about to be immediately 
attacked by General Count Bellegarde. I lastly inform- 
ed her that I had left Murat ill with vexation ; that he 
was aware of the critical situation in which he was 
placed ; but that henceforth it would be difficult for 
my councils to reach him. 

A few days after I received from the minister at war 
a despatch, containing the emperor's instructions rela- 
tive to the evacuation of the Roman and Tuscan states. 



404 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

To these was added a letter for the King of Naples, 
which 1 was ordered to remit him in person ; I was also 
instructed to make him at the same time certain confi- 
dential communications, to be modified according to the 
position in which I found that prince. I immediately 
set off for Bologna, where Murat then was. As far as 
Florence I experienced no difficulty ; but, on my arrival 
in that town, the new authorities notified to me, that I 
could neither continue my journey nor stop at Florence, 
and that I must retire to Prato, there to await the 
king's answer. I immediately despatched a courier to 
him, and returned to Lucca, preferring a residence in 
that town, Prato being already in insurrection. I soon 
received Murat's answer, who informed me that he had 
already ordered his generals to treat with me respect- 
ing the evacuation of Tuscany and the Roman states. 

The powers with which the emperor had invested 
me came very d propos. The greater part of the 
French troops which were in Tuscany were concentrat- 
ed at Leghorn ; those who were at Pisa seemed dis- 
posed to make resistance. The Neapolitan general, 
Minutolo, had already marched with a column of 
Murat's army from Florence to Leghorn ; at Pisa there 
had been some hostilities between this troop and a 
French detachment ; they were now about to become 
more serious. Informed of this event, I left Lucca with 
the utmost expedition, and presented myself at the 
advanced posts. Having made known my powers, I 
immediately stipulated a convention by which the 
French troops were to give up the posts and fortresses 
they occupied, and return to France ; I immediately 
gave orders to the garrisons of Leghorn and Tuscany 
to fall back upon Genoa. 

A few days afterwards, in virtue of the same powers, 
I treated with Lieutenant-Gener^-l Lecchi, the King of 
Naples' governor in Tuscany, for the evacuation of the 
Roman states. This new convention stipulated the 
giving up of the castle of St. Angelo and of Civita Vec- 
chia to the Neapolitans. The French garrisons were 



MEMOIPxS OF FOUCHE. 405 

to be conveyed by sea to Marseilles at the expense of 
the King of Naples. 

Thus ended my mission in Italy, the termination of 
which I so impatiently desired, in order to re-enter my 
country, at that time in so wretched a condition ; it was 
inundated by foreign troops, who Avere advancing nearer 
and nearer towards the capital, the approaches even to 
which Napoleon was reduced to defend. At such a 
distance, I had some difficulty in accounting for the 
progress of certain events ; thus, why the two allied 
armies again separated after having beaten Napoleon 
at La Rhotiere, instead of marching direct and without 
delay to Paris. Such a movement would have antici- 
pated by two months the events which occurred at the 
close of March, and consequently avoided many disas- 
ters, and prevented the useless effusion of much blood 
and many tears. But the allies had nothing ready at 
that time in Paris ; and the cabinets, who were not 
incHned for the regency, prolonged, doubtless with much 
regret, the calamities of war, in order to form other 
plans and produce different results. As to the congress 
of Chatillon, I imagined it would terminate as that of 
Prague had done. Every thing announced that the 
catastrophe of this grand drama would soon arrive. 

Before setting off for France I proceeded to Volta, 
the head-quarters of the prince Viceroy ; he had effect- 
ed his retreat upon the Mincio ; and upon the King of 
Naples' declaration of war against France had fought 
with the Austrians one of those battles, which, being of 
no decisive effect as to politics, is only productive of 
military glory. I had two private conferences with the 
viceroy, in which I represented to him that fighting 
battles was now the more useless, as every thing would 
be decided within the environs of Paris ; I dissuaded 
him from obeying the emperor's orders to march the 
array of Italy upon the Vosges : first, because it was 
now too late for a junction to be effected ; and secondly, 
because by crossing the Alps, he would for ever lose 
his Lombardian possessions. Eugene owned to me that 



406 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Murat had made him a secret proposal to unite their 
forces, for the purpose of sharing Italy, after having 
sent away the French troops, and that he had rejected 
this absurd offer ; that his declaration of war had placed 
him, Eugene in the greatest embarrassment ; and that 
he feared he could hold out no longer, if Murat should 
serve the Austrians with any degree of zeal. I made 
him easy upon this point, being well acquainted with 
the uncertain character of Murat, and knowing, besides, 
that his wishes for the independence of Italy had already 
been counteracted by the allies. I was at Eugene's 
head-quarters, when Faypoult, formerly prefect, a man 
in whom Murat placed some confidence, arrived. He 
had been sent by Napoleon, to Murat, as well as to 
Eugene, with the intelligence of the recent successes 
he had obtained at Briey and at Montereau. These 
advantages were purposely exaggerated for the double 
object of keeping up Eugene's hopes, and damping 
Murat's zeal in the cause of his new allies. Count 
Tacher, one of Eugene's aides-de-camp, whom he had 
despatched to Napoleon, had returned also with the 
utmost expedition, and reported to him the very words 
which the emperor, intoxicated with some brilliant but 
transient success, had addressed to him : " Return to 
Eugene," said Napoleon, " tell him how I have trimmed 
these scoundrels ; they are a set of rabble whom 1 will 
whip out of my dominions." The most general joy 
prevailed at head-quarters. I took Eugene aside, and 
told him that such boastings ought to inspire with confi- 
dence only such as were mad enthusiasts, but that they 
could have no effect upon reasonable people ; that these 
latter saw in its full extent the imminent danger which 
threatened the imperial throne ; that arms were not 
wanting to defend the government, but rather the sen- 
timent to set them in action ; and that by separating 
himself from the nation, the emperor, by his despotism, 
had destroyed all public spirit. I gave Eugene some 
advice, and began my route for Lyons, leaving Italy a 
prey, so to speak, to four different armies, the French, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 407 

Austrian, Neapolitan and English, for this time Lord 
Bentinck had really landed at Leghorn ; from that 
place, having signified to Elisa, that he acknowledged 
neither the authority of Napoleon nor her's, as grand 
Duchess, and in this manner, dictating the law to Tus- 
cany, he formed a junction with the Neapolitans who 
occupied Bologna, Modena and Keggio. Thus I left 
Italy in a most uncertain and embarrassed situation; 
nothing could be then more precarious than our posses- 
sions beyond the Alps. Neither the viceroy, nor Murat, 
and certainly neither of them were deficient in valour, 
had sufficient political talents, nor even consistency 
enough in the eyes of the Italians to prescribe the 
wrecks of our power in Italy, especially as both pro- 
ceeded in opposite directions. 

To own the truth, I was much more troubled about 
the alarming condition of France than the tottering 
situation of the viceroy, and even of Murat ; in fact, the 
fate of Italy was about to depend on the result of the 
contest, then proceeding in so vigorous a manner, be- 
tween Napoleon and the allied monarchs, who endea- 
voured to establish themselves between the Seine and 
the Marne. 

It was in the midst of these circumstances that I 
entered Lyons, towards the beginning of March. Every 
thing there was a state of confusion and uncertainty, as 
to the result of the campaign. The prefect, the com- 
missary-general of police, and some subordinate generals 
were disposed to defend Lyons, as a consequence of the 
universal persuasion that Paris would also be defended ; 
and it was by throwing up earthern outw'orks, that a 
pretence was made to arrest the enemy's progress 
before the second city of the empire, which was threat- 
ened by the arrival of a reinforcement of 45,000 Ger- 
mans. Augereau was invited ; a general who depre- 
ciated Napoleon, but possessed little skill as a politician ; 
and who in this crisis, yielding to evil counsels, could 
discover no benefit for France, except by identifying 
her with his destiny. A line of fortifications was hastily 



408 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

traced, and all : kind of means employed, to impart a 
national character to this popular resistance. But the 
same inclinations, then discovered at Paris, the seat of 
government, prevailed also at Lyons. The prefect, 
Bondy, did his utmost to animate the patriotism of the 
lethargic Lyonnese, which was extinguished by the same 
causes which caused it to languish in other parts of 
France. 

The very night of my arrival, I was admitted to a 
conference with the chief public functionaries, which 
took place every evening at the house of Marshal Au- 
gereau. I perceived from the first moment that all 
which bore any character of factious desperation ob- 
tained no favour from any party but the prefect, a few 
of the general officers who had arrived with a corps 
from the army of Aragon, and Saulnier commissary- 
general of police. I made a frank confession of the de- 
fection of the King of Naples, and of the probability 
that a million of men were about to penetrate France, 
which it was no longer possible to save, except by some 
master-stroke of policy. I saw that my opinions as 
well as my disclosures were in opposition to the func- 
tionaries, who urged by their zeal for the emperor, 
were disposed to undergo the horrors of a siege. They 
did not disguise the mortification which my presence 
gave them, and I soon perceived that they had received 
secret instructions in regard to me. Augereau having 
refused to listen to the only prospect of deliverance 
which was concentred in the interests of the revolution, 
of which, nevertheless, he was a zealous partisan, con- 
cluded by concurring with the measure proposed by the 
prefect and commissary-general of police, the object of 
which was to compel me to quit Lyons, and to reside, 
provisionally at Valence. I gave way, though with re- 
luctance, and took the road to Dauphine; casting, at 
the same time, an impatient glance towards that of 
Paris, Avhich was the only one whereon I could have 
wished to have travelled post. 

It was at Valence that I learnt the arrival of Mon- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 409 

sieur, Count d'Artois, at Vesoul, and the terrors of Na- 
poleon at the first day-break of rojalism which had just 
burst forth at Troyes, in Champagnj. I learnt a few 
days after, and in succession, the arrival of the Duke 
d'Angouleme at the head-quarters of Lord Wellington ; 
the loss of the battle of Orthez by Soult ; the loss of 
the battle of Laon by Napoleon; and the entry of the 
Duke d'Angouleme into Bordeaux. How much deeper 
my regret then became, to behold myself more than a 
hundred leagues from the capital, where a political re- 
volution was of necessity to be expected as a conse- 
quence of so many disasters. The occupation of Ly- 
ons by the Austrians almost immediately followed ; and 
Marshal Augereau withdrawing his head-quarters to 
Valence, I departed for Avignon, in order to wait the 
issue of events, and in full readiness to hurry to Paris 
at the first signal. But surrounded by different corps 
d'armee, reduced to the uncertainty of conjectures, and 
to depend upon vague rumours by the interruption of the 
couriers and by the difficulty of communication, I doubt- 
less hesitated too long in taking the decisive step. How 
much I subsequently repented, of not having clandestine- 
ly proceeded to Paris through the centre of France, 
which was at that time free from foreign invasion ! A 
single consideration was calculated to dissuade me ; I 
had reason to fear that secret instructions referring to 
me were transmitted to each prefect individually. 

I was residing at Avignon, uninvested with any poli- 
tical character, and I inhabited the same apartment in 
which the unfortuaate -Brune was assassinated a year 
afterwards. There I found the public mind so greatly 
opposed to Napoleon, that I was enabled to publish no- 
tice that I would receive all the public bodies and con- 
stituted authorities ; to whom I announced the ap- 
proaching downfall of the imperial government, and 
added, that Murat, in Upper Italy, was labouring for 
the good cause. In a greater extent than at Lyons and 
Valence, an inclination to see the fall of Napoleon fol- 
lowed by some kind of settled authority was manifested, 
52 



410 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

at Avignon. At length, the news of the events of the 
31st of March reached me. Compelled to make a long 
circuit, in order to follow the road of Toulouse and Li- 
moges, I did not arrive at Paris till towards the begin- 
ning of April ; but it was already too late. The estab- 
lishment of a provisional government, of which L ought 
to have constituted a part; the deposition of Napoleon, 
which I had myself aspired to pronounce, but which 
"Was effected without my aid ; in short, the restoration 
of the Bourbons, which I had opposed in order to sub- 
stitute my plan of a regency — annihilated all my pro- 
jects, and replunged me into a state of political nullity, 
in the presence of princes to whom I had given ma^^^er 
of offence. I was aware that clemency might be in 
harmony with the goodness of their hearts, but I was 
also aware that it was not less incompatible with the 
principle of legitimacy. 

I subsequently heard this double question mooted : If 
the Duke of Otranto had been at Paris, would he have 
formed a part of the provisional government ; and, if 
he had done so, what would have been the result of 
the revolution of the 31st of March? 

I owe in this place some elucidations to ray contem- 
poraries, relative to secret circumstances which I have 
not judged fitting to parcel out in my narrative, in or- 
der to exhibit them to the light in a better form ; for 
there are some confessions which are only to be justifi- 
ed by conjunctures, and which ought not to be hazarded, 
except at favourable opportunities. I will admit, in the 
first instance, that impressed with the necessity of pre- 
venting a European re-action, and of saving France by 
the assistance of France, the events of 1(309 — that is 
to say, the war with Austria and the attack of the Eng- 
lish on Antwerp — supplied only the first steps towards 
the execution of a plari of revolution, the object of 
"which was the dethronement of the emperor. I con- 
fess, moreover, that I was the moving soul of this plan, 
which Avas alone capable of reconcihng us with Europe, 
and of bringing us back to a reasonable state of govern- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 411 

ment. It required the concurrence of two statesmen, 
one directing the cabinet of Vienna, and the othe that 
of St. James', I mean Prince Metternich and the Mar- 
quess of Wellesley, to whom I had sent for that pur- 
pose M. de Fagan, an old officer in the Irish regiment 
of Dillon, and whose insinuating character was adapted 
for so delicate a mission. 

Before proceeding to overtures of this description, I 
had not neglected, in the interior of France, to obtain 
the co-operation of the only man who was indispensable 
to me. It will be easily guessed that I refer to Prince 
Talleyrand. Our reconciliation had taken place in a 
conference at Surene, at the house of the Princess of 
Vaudemont. From the first moment of interview, our 
political ideas sympathized; and a kind of coalition was 
established between our reciprocal future plans. I had 
not, however, been able to escape from the epigramma- 
tic mordacity of my noble and new ally, who, being 
questioned by his intimate friends after our interview, 
as to what his opinion was with regard to me, replied : 
— " True ! I have seen Fouche ; he is papier doree sur 
tranche.'^'' 

The observation was of course brought to me ; I did 
not show that 1 was offended at it ; political considera- 
tions in my case have always superseded the irritabi- 
lity of self-love. 

I had been equally aware of the necessity of placing 
myself in direct communication with one of the most 

influential of the senators, M. de S , who was him" 

self in close connexion with the secretaryship of state, 
by means of Maret, an old fellovi'-prisoner. 

An acquisition of this description was so much the 
more valuable to me, inasmuch as since the disgrace of 
Bourienne, I did not possess in the secretary's office any 
other persons than mere subalterns in my interest, who 
often suffered the thread of the higher class of intrigues 
to escape from their grasp. But how w^as I to obtain 
the friendship of a person, whom I had reckoned for a 
considerable time among the number of my declared 



412 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

antagonists. The senatorship of Bourges had just be- 
come vacant; that I resolved should be the price of 

our reconciliation ; I manoeuvred in consequence ; S 

obtained it ; and from that moment I gained a friend 
in the senate, and, as it were, an additional eye for ever 
on the watch in the cabinet of Napoleon. 

Another individual was requisite to my plans ; Mar- 
shal M , chief of the gendarmerie. Up to that time 

he had been opposed to me. Appointed to the com- 
mand of a corps d^armee in Catalonia, he was unprovid- 
ed, although in high employment, with the necessary 
funds for his outfit. I knew his embarrassment, and 
sent him, by the advice of a friend, a little hoard of 
eighty thousand francs, which it was in my power to 
employ, and for the transfer of which I had the empe- 
ror's authority. In this manner, in the space of a very 
few months, I made friends of all enemies. I had two 
offices on my hands ; the home department and that of 
the police. I had the gendarmerie at my disposal, and 
a multitude of spies at my command ; as a lever of 
public opinion, I had also the immense patronage of the 
old republicans, as well as of the determined royalists, 
who found a shield of protection in the maintenance of 
my credit. Such were the elements of my power, 
when Napoleon, engaged in the double war of Spain 
and Austria, and thenceforth considered as an incor- 
rigible disturber, appeared to me to be involved in so 
inextricable a position, that I concerted the plan which 
I have disclosed in a preceding passage. Whether it 
"was that Napoleon's sagacity divined what I was about, 
or that indiscretion inherent in the native character of 
Frenchmen had awakened his suspicions (for as to being 
betrayed, 1 certainly was not,) my disgrace, which was 
almost sudden, as I have related at the end of the 
events of 1809, postponed for five years the subversion 
of the imperial throne. And it was under the protec- 
tion of feelings such as these, and under the support of 
a body of public opinion, which had never abandoned 
me either at the time of my disgrace or of my exile; it 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 415 

was, moreover, while fortified bj the reputation of a 
statesman, who, with the precision of cool and calculat- 
ing foresight, had prophesied the fall of Napoleon, that 
I found myself overtaken by the events of the 31st of 
March. If 1 had been at Paris at that time, the weight 
of my influence, and my perfect kn^\vledge of the se- 
cret bearings of parties, would have enabled me to im- 
part an entirely contrary direction to the bias of those 
extraordinary events. My preponderance and prompt 
decision would have prevailed over the more mysterious 
and tardy influence of M. de Talleyrand. That distin- 
guished individual was incapable of making any pro- 
gress, unless when yoked with me to the same car. I 
should have revealed to him all the ramifications of my 
political plan; and in spite of the odious policy of Sava- 
ry, the ridiculous administration of Cambaceres, the 
lieutenant-generalship of the puppet Joseph, and the 
total prostration of the senate, we should have re-kin- 
dled fresh life in the caput mortuum of the revolution; 
and degraded patriots would have no longer thought, as 
they have done when it was too late, of preserving 
nothing but themselves. Impelled by me, they would, 
before the intervention of foreign powers, have pro- 
nounced the downfall of Napoleon, and proclaimed a 
regency, according to the forms which I had laid down. 
This denouement was the only one capable of imparting 
security to the revolution and its principles. But the 
fates had otherwise decreed.* Napoleon himself con- 
spired against his own blood. What shifts, what pre- 
texts, did he not employ to keep me at a distance from 
the capital, where he even feared the presence of his 
son and of his wife; for the order, which he left to 

* Rather say, that in spite of so many intrigues of all the military 
power of Bonaparte, and of the protracted aberrations of European 
policy, Providence at length determined that our native princes 
should resume the sceptre of France. We are now at length con- 
soled for so many wars and calamities, by the reign of Charles X., 
which the wise foresight of Louis XVllI. enabled him to pi'epare 
for our advantage. — JVote by the French Editor. 



414 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

Cambaceres, to cause the immediate departure of the 
empress and the King of Rome at the earliest appear- 
ance of the aUies, cannot, without great misrepresenta- 
tion, be imputed to any other motive, than that of 
averting such a revolution as might be effected by the 
establishment of a national regency. After having suf- 
ered himself to be juggled out of his capital by the Em- 
peror Alexander, he wished to have recourse to the re- 
gency as a last shift. But it was then too late. The 
combinations of M. de Talleyrand had prevailed, and it 
was when a provisional government was already framed, 
that I arrived to make my appearance, before the re- 
storation. 

What a position, just Heaven, was mine ! Impelled 
by the consciousness of the many claims which I pos- 
sessed to power, and withheld by a sentiment of re- 
morse ; impressed at the same time with the grandeur 
of a spectacle perfectly new to the generation which 
surveyed it — the public entrance of a son of France, 
who, after being the sport of fortune for twenty-five 
years, reviewed, in the midst of acclamations and uni- 
versal rejoicing, the capital of his ancestors adorned 
with the standards and emblems of royalty. Moved, I 
confess, by the affecting picture of royal affability, in- 
termingling with royalist intoxication, 1 was subjugated 
by the feeling.* I neither dissembled my regret nor my 
repentance ; I revealed them in full senate, while I 
urged the senators to send a deputation to S. A. R. 
Monsieur ; at the same time declaring myself unworthy 
to form a part of it, and of appearing in my own person 

* Another etfect of the same providence. What a subhme and 
affecting spectacle was that return of a son of France on the immor- 
tal day of the 12th of April, 1814. That spectacle affected the 
30ul of a regicide: the feeling of remorse overcomes him ; he re- 
cognises in the great catastrophe the hand of Divine Providence, 
which prepared, ten years before, the way for the mild and pater- 
nal rule of Charles X., of that chivalrous king, who was saluted by 
the acclamations of the Parisians on the very threshold of our re^ 
storation, — Note by the Frenoh Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. ' 415 

before the representative of monarchy ; and withstand- 
ing to the utmost of my influence such of my colleagues 
as wished to impose restraints upon the Bourbons. 

A month had not yet elapsed when, tormented by 
the secret disquietude with which the residence of Na- 
poleon at the isle of Elba inspired me, a residence which 
I foresaw might prove fatal to France, I took up my pen, 
and addressed him in the following letter, which I sur- 
render to the impartial judgment of history. 

" Sire, — When France and a portion of Europe were 
at your feet, I never flinched from tellingyou the truth. 
Now that you are in misfortune I entertain more fear 
of wounding your sensibility while I address you in the 
language of sincerity ; but it is a duty which I owe to 
you, because it is useful, and even necessary, to your 
own welfare. 

" You have accepted the isle of Elba and its sove- 
reignty for your retreat. I lend an attentive ear to all 
which is dropped on the subject of that sovereignty 
and of that isle. I think it is my duty to assure you, that 
the situation of that isle iii Europe is not adapted for 
you, and that the title of sovereign over some acres of 
land is still less fitted for an individual who has been 
the master of a mighty empire. 

" I entreat you to weigh well these two considera- 
tions, and you will perceive that they are well founded. 
The isle of Elba is at a very short distance from Africa, 
Greece, and Spain; it nearly touches the shores of Ita- 
ly and France. From that island, tides, winds, and a 
little felucca may suddenly bring you in conjunction 
with countries most exposed to agitation, to chances, 
and revolutions. There is stability no where; and, in 
this general condition of national ductility, a genius like 
yours may always excite disquietude and suspicion 
among European powers. Without being criminal you 
may be accused, and without being criminal you may 
also do mischief, since a state of alarm is a great evil for 
governments as well as for nations. 

" A king who ascends the throne of France must de- 



416 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

sire to reign exclusively by justice ; but you know well 
what numerous passions besiege a throne, and with what 
ingenuity malice gives the colour of truth to defama- 
tion. 

*' The titles which you preserve by constantly re- 
calling what you have lost to your mind, can only serve 
to aggravate the bitterness of your regret ; they will 
not so much assume the shape of power in ruins, as of 
a stimulant mockery of grandeur passed away, I will 
go farther ; without doing you honour, they will expose 
you to the greatest danger. It will be said that you 
only preserve your titles with a view to the preserva- 
tion of your pretensions; it will be said that the rocky 
island of Elba is the point d^appui on which you will 
fix your lever in order a second time to shake the sys- 
tem of the social frame. 

" Permit me, Sire, to express with frankness all that 
passes in my mind. It will be more glorious and more 
consolitary for you to live in the character of a private 
individual ; and the more secure asylum for an individual 
like yourself is the United States of America. There 
you will recommence your existence in the midst of a 
nation still in its youth, and which can admire your 
genius without standing in dread of its effects. You 
will be under the protection of law, equally impartial 
and inviolable, like every thing else in the country of 
Franklin, Washington and Jefferson. You will prove 
to the Americans that, if you were born among them, 
you would have thought and voted as they had done, 
and that you would have preferred their virtues and 
their liberty to all the sovereignties on earth." 

This letter, which I am disposed to consider as cre- 
ditable to my character, was subsequently submitted, 
by the royalists, to Monsieur Comte d'Artois, in con- 
junction with the following letter, which I addressed to 
his royal highness : — 

" MoNSEiGNEUR, — It lias bccn my wish to offer a last 
service to tiie Emperor Napoleon, whose minister I was 
for ten years, I think it my duty to communicate to 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 417 

your royal highness the letter which I have just writ- 
ten. His welfare cannot be a matter of indifference to 
me, since it has excited the generous pity of the powers 
which have conquered him. But the greatest of all in- 
terests for France and Europe, that to which all others 
ought to give way, is the tranquillity of nations and go- 
vernments after so many storms and misfortunes; and 
that repose, even though established upon solid bases, 
will never be sufficiently guaranteed, will never, in short, 
be permanently enjoyed, as long as Napoleon remains 
in the isle of Elba. Napoleon, residing on that rock, 
may be regarded, with respect to Italy, France, and 
the whole of Europe, with the same feelings as Vesu- 
vius by the side of Naples. I see no place but the New 
World and the United States to which he can be pre- 
cluded from imparting renovated shocks of disturbance.'* 

The prince, whose sagacity is certainly unquestiona- 
ble, was enabled by this letter to judge, what he but 
imperfectly surmised before, that I was not to be reck- 
oned among the adherents of Napoleon. 

On being consulted by ministers and courtiers, I fre- 
quently repeated to them, " Be silent about the evils 
which have been done ; place yourself at the head of 
the benefits which the last twenty-five years have cre- 
ated; attribute all that is injurious to preceding go- 
vernments, or still more justly to the force of events; 
employ alternately the virtue which oppression has en- 
gendered, the energy which our discords have develop 
ed, and the talents which popular ferment has struck 
out. If the king do not make the nation his point 
d'appui, his authority will diminish, his courtiers will be 
reduced to the necessity of extorting barren tributes of 
homage on his behalf, which will be his ruin. Take 
care, I added, not to touch upon the colour of the na- 
tional cockade and flag; that question is not yet entirely 
understood ; it is frivolous only in appearance, but it 
determines much; it is under the question of its stan- 
dards that the nation will rally; the colour of a riband 
may, also, decide the colour of a future reign. A sacri- 
53 



418 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

iice like this, on the part of the king, resembles that 
made bj Henry IV., to the ritual of the ma§s." It will 
be seen, that in my advice, I did not hesitate to consti- 
tute the king into a head of the revolution, to which, 
by this measure, a guarantee, much stronger than that of 
the charter itself, would be presented ; my opinions, 
and the interests of my country, as well as my own, pre- 
scribed this course. But if, on the one hand, I possess- 
ed numerous partisans, either among the royalists, or 
among the men of the revolution ; I had, on the other 
hand, against me the Bonapartists, and the relics of Sa- 
vary's police. The latter represented me as devoured 
by chagrin at not having been able to assist in the over- 
throw of an edifice which I had indulged in erecting ; 
and, as hurrying to the legitimate throne, making a pa- 
rade of my remorse, and offering my services to the au- 
gust family which I had outraged, at any price which 
they chose to fix. The former, on the contrary, de- 
picted me as the only man calculated to maintain the 
security of the Bourbons ; as a most sagacious minister, 
capable of disposing of a portion of the elements of the 
political body. I do not think that I deceive myself, 
when I affirm, that such was the prevailing opinion in 
the Faubourg St. Germain. 

I commenced a correspondence with several impor- 
tant personages of the court ; among others, with my 
friend Malouet, who, since his exile at Tours, had been 
appointed by the king to the office of marine. All the 
letters which I wrote to him were placed under the 
king's eye. I recommended to him, as well as all those 
who came on his majesty's behalf, to ask my advice, not 
to establish a warfare between old and new ^pinions, 
between the nation and the emigrants; but there was 
not energy enough to follow any part of my recommen- 
dation ; and the torrent of opposite opinions was suifer- 
ed to prevail. 

Towards the end of June, the king had ordered M. 
de Blacas to have a conference with me ; accordingly I 
had a visit from that minister, whom I coldly received. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 419 

I knew him to be surrounded by persons who were ray 
enemies, and who enjoyed no credit with the pubhc; 
such as Savary, Bourienne, the old prefect of pohce, 
Dubois, and a certain Madame P— — , a woman In bad 
repute, and very notorious ; I knew that the Avhole of 
them, united, exerted themselves to delude and circum- 
vent M. de Biacas. His unconclliating manner, and his 
inexperience in business, joined to the aversion with 
which his cabal inspired me, prevented him from fully 
comprehending me, while it precluded me from yielding 
him ray entire confidence. However, as Louis XVIH. 
would be informed that I had shown reserve and mis- 
trust in my communications with his minister, I took up 
my pen, and the next day wrote a detailed letter to M. 
de Biacas, under the conviction that the king would be 
shortly made acquainted with it. I told him that the 
agitation of France was caused among the people by a 
dread of the re-establishment of feudal rights; by dis- 
quietude respecting their acquisitions, on the part of the 
possessors of emigrant property ; by a doubt as to their 
personal security on the part of those who had taken a 
high tone in declaring either for the republic, or for 
Bonaparte ; by the loss of, and regret for, so many 
prospects of glory and fortune, on the part of the army ; 
and, finally, by the astonishment produced on the publi- 
cation of the charter (which the king had chosen to 
characterize as an emanation from his hereditary power^)-"-""^" 
on the minds of the constitutionalists. Among these 
causes, the most dangerous of all was precisely that, 
which all the wisdom of the kino; and his ministers 
could not entirely foresee nor exclude from operation. 
1 refer to the discontent of the army, and I explained 
its motives; among others, I stated that an army, and 
more especially an army raised by conscription, always 
imbibes the general feeling of the nation in which it 
lives, and that it always ends with being either content- 
ed or discontented, like the nation, and in conjunction 
with the nation. With this cause of discontent, I added, 
that the genius of Bonaparte still interfered. " A 



420 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

nation," I observed, " In which, for five and twenty 
years, opinions and feelings have been thrown into so 
strong an action as to impart disturbance to the universe, 
cannot, without long gradations of interval, return to a 
tranquil and peaceable condition ; to attempt to stop 
the force of that activity would be impolitic; new fuel 
mu$t be found for its rapacity ; the boundless careers of 
industry in all the branches of commerce, of the arts, 
of the sciences, and of the discoveries which they have 
effected, must be thrown open and enlarged as much as 
possible ; in short, every thing which extends the facul- 
ties and the power of man. The nineteenth century 
has scarcely begun ; it ought to bear the name of Louis 
XVIII., as the seventeenth bore the name of Louis 
XIV." I made corresponding efforts to plead the cause 
of the liberty of the press, and individual liberty ; and 
I concluded in the following terms : — "Great numbers 
of Frenchmen, who devoted themselves to participate 
in the misfortunes of the Bourbons, as they had in their 
prosperity, have returned with the dynasty of their 
kings ; they can no longer pretend to the re-acquisition 
of their estates, without exciting violent troubles and a 
civil war ; be it so ; let one of the king's ministers, 
inspired by the logic of a reflecting mind, and imbued 
with the eloquence of a soul alive to what is due to 
great misfortunes and great virtues, ask of the two 
chambers the allotment of an annual sum for the pur- 
pose of indemnifying calamities and privations, so deserv- 
ing of succour, at the hands of a feeling and heroic 
nation; I will take upon myself to predict, that such a 
project in the chambers would be passed into a law by 
acclamation." 

But such councils could only be expected to be fruit- 
less, as they resulted from an individual placed beyond 
the sphere of power. Supported and urged by a nume- 
rous party of royalists, the ramifications of which ex- 
tended as far as the court, I confess that I was suffered 
to have glimpses of office, for the purpose of exerting 
an influence over events ; but I had opposed to me M. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 421 

de Blacas, who had subjected himself to the crafty 
influence of Savary ; and the latter being sold to Bona- 
parte, trembled at the idea of a door of access to the 
king's councils being opened to me. I had, moreover, 
too many momentous interests, and especially rival pre- 
tensions, opposed to me. I did not disguise from myself, 
that the main argument which was constantly reiterated 
against me, was undeniable. I felt my real position, 
and departed with my family for my chateau of Fer- 
rieres, whence I proposed to cast an observing eye upon 
events. It was necessary to oppose the wishes of my 
friend, in order to station myself, in this manner, at a 
distance from the capital. 

I was convinced, beforehand, that the feeble and in- 
competent individuals who grasped the helm of govern- 
ment, would continue to follow erroneous maxims of 
policy, and to impart a false direction to affairs. 

What serious reflections, therefore, assailed my mind, 
with regard to the equivocal and incoherent position of 
the new government ! As a statesman, It could not 
escape my notice, that a restoration had been eflected 
without a revolution ; since all the wheel-marks of the 
imperial government still subsisted; and there was 
nothing changed, if I may so express it, but the indivi- 
duality of power. And, in fact, what could be found 
after the lapse of twenty years in an immovable con- 
dition ? Clergy, nobility, institutions, municipalities, here- 
ditary proprietorships, nothing had escaped the general 
overthrow. The Bourbons, in re-ascending the throne, 
found support in public inclination, but not in national 
interest. Such was the origin and first cause of the 
commotion, the first indications of which already began 
to exhibit themselves to my eyes. France was partici- 
pated between the votaries and adversaries of the resto- 
ration. Louis XVIII. reigned over a suffering and divid- 
ed nation ; all the favourers of imperial despotism, all 
the individuals who had distinguished themselves in our 
revolutionary crisis, feared to be oblio^ed to share their 
dignities with the ancient nobility ; they had required 



422 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

securities, and they had obtained them ; or imagined 
they had obtained them by that declaration which was 
sohcited i'rom the king, and promulgated by that prince 
before his entrance into his capital. 

But, on the other hand, the reverses of Napoleon 
had succeeded each other with so much rapidity, that 
the possessors of superior employments and great in- 
comes had not sufficient time to retrench the luxury of 
their establishments. When the Bourbons were recall- 
ed, some calculation was necessary on their part, and it 
was indispensable to put a sudden stop to the unlimited 
course of their expenses. Here was a plentiful source 
of discontent and irritation among the upper ranks of 
the social order. Another still more alarming cause of 
instability for the new government, was to be found in 
the as yet unmodified scale of the army ; it had not re- 
ceived its conge, (an enormous error,) for all the old 
soldiers, and all the prisoners who were restored to 
France, were imbued with a spirit at variance with the 
restoration, and devoted to the interests of the ex- 
cm peror. 

The king, instead of accepting the charter, had grant- 
ed it ; another subject of discontent to that great body 
of Frenchmen, whose political era dated from the 
revolution. The charter, it is true, confirmed titles, 
honours, and in some respect, places ; it legalized the 
acquisition of national property; but that was not entire- 
ly satisfactory for so many restless and prejudiced 
individuals. The charter, moreover, had a multitude 
of objectors. According to one party it was not suffi- 
ciently liberal ; according to the partisans of the ancient 
regime, the old constitution of the kingdom was prefer- 
able. To this state of things must be added the laxity 
and uncertainty of the ministers, who, without being 
either royalists or patriots, took it into their heads that 
they could render France ministerial. The general 
apprehension must also be borne in mind which was 
entertained of the congress of Vienna, which, while 
employed in the reconstruction of Europe, menaced 



•^ 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 423 

such states as had become the seat of revolution with 
subjection to an anti-revolutionarj regime ; in this man- 
ner the interests produced by twenty-five years of trou- 
bles were thrown into alarm. The royalists enfeebled 
and divided their party in the same proportion as their 
adversaries, shuddering at the very name of the Bour- 
bons, exhibited more pertinacity in disputing their rights. 
The possibility of Napoleon's return, considered at first 
as a chimera, became the favourite idea of the army ; 
plots were formed, and the royal police countermined. 
It is easy to conceive, that having occupied so many- 
elevated posts in the state, and still preserving such 
numerous links of connexion with public affairs, and 
■with so devoted a body of clients in the capital, my ob- 
servations extended over ail the intrigues which were 
concocting. 

I was in this disposition of mind, when an individual, 
who had possessed much influence, and who was then 
on the point of losing it, wrote to induce me to make 
one of a secret committee, the object of which was a 
counter-revolutionary result. I wrote this answer upon 
the letter, which did not remain concealed. " 1 never 
work en serves chaudes ; I decline doing any thing which 
is incapable of assuming a dignified air." 

In the mean time affiliations were forming ; and in- 
fluential men were contracting political engagements to 
each other. It was soon obvious to me, that the state 
was proceeding towards a crisis, and that the adherents 
of Napoleon had coalesced in order to accelerate its 
advent. But, no success was possible without my co- 
operation ; I was every thing but decided to concede it 
to a party, against whom 1 entertained a grudge of long 
standing. Repeated apphcations were made to me, 
and many plans suggested ; all tended to the dethrone- 
ment of the king, and the subsequent proclamation 
cither of another dynasty, or of a provisional republic. 
A military party made me a proposal of offering the 
dictatorship to Eugene Beauharnois, I wrote to Eu- 
gene, under the impression that the matter had already 



424 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

assumed a substantial form ; but I only received a 
vague answer. In the interim, all the interests of the 
revolution congregated round myself and Carnot, whose 
letter to the king produced a general sensation which 
attested still more efficaciously against the unskilfulness 
of the ministry. The affair of Excelmans gave addi- 
tional strength to the persuasion that a considerable 
party, the focus of which was in Paris, desired the re- 
establishment of Napoleon and the imperial govern- 
ment. 

When, as winter approached, I returned to the ca- 
pital, the royal government appeared to me undermin- 
ed by two parties, hostile to legitimacy, and itself 
thenceforward without resource. The king, by his 
good pleasure, had commissioned M. the Duke d'Havre, 
to supersede M. de Blacas in his confidential communi- 
cations with me. The true nobility of this nobleman's 
character, as well as his frank deportment, procured 
him my entire confidence ; I opened my whole heart to 
him ; and found myself disposed to a freedom of com- 
munication which I had never before known. Never 
had I in any moment of my life, felt so little inclina- 
tion to reserve ; never before did I find myself endow- 
ed with an eioquence so true, and a sensibility so in- 
tense, as those which accompanied the recital of the 
circumstances, by which I had been fatally induced to 
vote for the death of Louis XVI. I can say it with 
truth, that this confession extorted from my feelings 
was imbued at once with remorse and inspiration. I 
cannot, indeed, at this time recal to mind without pro- 
found emotion, the tears which I observed in the eyes 
of my virtuous interlocutor — of that illustrious duke, 
who was a personification of true and loyal French chi- 
valry. 

Our political conversations were minuted, for the 
purpose of being subsequently communicated to the 
king. But the wounds of the state were beyond reme- 
dy, and a great crisis was inevitable. Placed, on the 
one hand, between the Bourbons, who only conceded 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 425 

to me a de mi-confidence, whose system closed all the 
avenues of power and honour against me, and with re- 
gard to whom 1 was in a false position, while at the 
same time, I had no kind of engagement towards them; 
and on the other hand, between the party to which I 
was indebted for my fortune, and to which a communi- 
ty of opinions and interests attracted me, at the mo- 
ment when a prolonged state of doubt on my part, 
might have isolated me from both, I threw myself en- 
tirely into the arms of the last. It was not against the 
Bourbons that I resolved within myself to wage war, 
but against the dogma of legitimacy. I was, however, 
thwarted in my combinations, by the existence of a Bo- 
napartist party, which exerting all its influence over the 
army, kept us all in a state of dependence. It was my 
ancient colleague Thibaudeau, who first disclosed to me 
the progress of the faction in the Isle of Elba, whose 
principal agent he was. I saw that there was no time 
to lose ; I, moreover, considered that Napoleon would 
at all events serve as a rallying point for the army, re- 
serving in my own mind the intention of putting him 
down afterwards, which appeared to me so much the 
more easy, as the emperor, to my view, was nothing but 
a worn-out actor, whose first performance could not be 
re-enacted. I then consented that Thibaudeau should 
make overtures to some intimates of Napoleon, and I 

allowed RegnauU,Cambaceres, Davoust, S , B , 

L , C , B de la M , M. de D- to 

be admitted to our conferencte. But I exacted conces- 
sions and securities, refusing to unite with that party, if 
their chief, abjuring despotism, did not adopt a system 
of liberal government. Our coalition was cemented by 
the reciprocal promise of an equal participation of pow- 
er, either in the ministry, or in the provisional govern- 
ment at the moment of the explosion. According to 
the plan arranged with Thibaudeau, I hastened to des- 
patch my emissary, J— , to Murat, to induce him to 

declare himself tne arbiter of Italy ; at the same time, 
the grand committee despatched Doctor R^ — — ', to the 
54 ' . 



426 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Isle of Elba. Lyons and Grenoble became the two pi- 
vots of the enterprise in the South ; in the North a 
military movement, directed by d'Erlon and Lefetrre- 
Desnouettes was to determine the flight or capture of 
the royal family, which in their turn would occasion 
the formation of a provisional government, of which I 
was to form a part, with Carnot, Caulaincourt, Lafay- 
ette, and N . To resume the supreme power in 

the midst of the general confusion, such was the drift 
of our combinations. Solicited to reconcile himself 
with Napoleon, and hoping to remain master of Italy, 
Murat, although the ally of Austria, was the first to 
take up arms on treacherous pretences ; this show of 
hostilities apparently directed against Louis XVIII., 
caused great sensation in the king's council. Thirty 
thousand men were immediately marched towards Gre- 
noble and the Alps, or rather thrown in Napoleon's 
way. The adroitness of this manoeuvre was not duly 
appreciated. In the meanwhile the disembarkation of 
the emperor took place at Cannes ; and it may be al- 
leged in proof that we are not a nation of conspirators, 
that for the preceding fortnight, the overthrow of the 
Bourbons had been publicly avowed by all parties, and 
had been a subject of universal conversation. The court 
alone persevered in refusing to see what was as clear 
as the sun to every body else. 

Before touching on the events of the 20ih. of 
March, let us throw a retrospective glance over the 
past. It will have been seen that I had at first no in- 
tention of joining the party of revolt : I had only desir- 
ed to induce the cabinet of the Tuileries to grasp the 
reins of the revolution, and guide them with a vigorous 
hand through the midst of surrounding obstacles. I 
think I may avow, without arrogating too much to my- 
self, that 1 alone was capable of heading and superin- 
tending such a sysl;em ; at the court, in Paris, and in 
the provinces, I was selected by all parties as fittest for 
this bold attempt. I had to contend against rivalries, 
which my predecessors appeared to furnish with invin- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 427 

cible arms; but up to the latest moment I never ceas- 
ed seeking for some mezzo-termine, some mode of conci- 
liation, which might have excused me from recurring to 
the desperate expedient of the emperors return. . It 
has been seen, how in yielding to it I yielded to the ne- 
cessity of the case. It was only at the moment of Na- 
poleon's landing that I was thoroughly informed of the 
fatal combination which brought him back to our 
shores. Its object embraced three distinct sub-divi- 
sions; the return of Napoleon to Paris; thfe captivity 
of the king and the royal family ;, and the evasion of 
Maria Louisa and her son from Vienna. The first sub- 
division of the plan was that, the execution of which 
was least liable to obstruction, considering the disposi- 
tion to defection manifested by almost all the troops. 
The same could not be said of the seizure of the king 
and the royal family; for that purpose it would have 
been necessary for an army to have suddenly marched 
on the capital, an expedient which precluded the possi- 
bility of a secret ; and it was on that account that the 
attempt of Lefevre-Desnouettes failed. As to the eva- 
sion of Maria Louisa and her son, that also was attempt- 
ed and had nearly succeeded. — Shrinking with a kind 
of horror from the idea of sacrificing to a military coup 
de main the family of a monarch Avho had shown so 
much generosity in my case as to take my advice, I re- 
quested an audience of the king as soon as I learnt that 
Napoleon was marching upon Lyons. This interview 
was not granted me ; but two gentlemen came, on his 
majesty's behalf, to receive my communications. I ap- 
prized them of the danger which Louis XVIII. incur- 
red, and I engaged to stop the progress of the fugitive 
from the Isle of Elba, if the court would consent to the 
terms which I required. My proposals resulted from 
the actual nature of the events which were in the act of 
being unfolded. A patriotic party not less inimical than 
myself to imperial despotism, had just completed its or- 
ganization ; it had for its chiefs MM. de Broglie, 



428 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Lafayette, D'Argenson, Flaugergues, Benjamin Con- 
stant, S^c. They had agreed to require of the king the 
dismissal of his ministers; the nomination of forty new 
members selected from men of the revolution, to the 
chamber of peers ; and that of M. de Lafayette to the 
command of the National Guard. It was, moreover, 
proposed to send into the provinces patriotic missiona- 
ries, in order to stop the defection of the troops, and 
kindle a national energy in their hearts. I was no 
stranger to the motions of this party, by means of 
which I subsequently became minister. I was, howev- 
er, aware that it was indispensable to rally all the ele- 
ments of the revolution, in order to oppose them in one 
body to the power of the sword; that it was necessary 
to oppose one name against another, and the charm of 
those recollections, which the heir of the first mover of 
the revolutiorf would excite in the hearts of freemen, 
against that of a glory, which, by its sudden resurrec- 
tion, dazzled the genius of the camp. When the king's 
ministers desired to know what were the means which 1 
proposed to employ in order to prevent Napoleon from 
reaching Paris, I refused to communicate them, being 
disinclined to disclose them to any person but the king 
himself; but I protested that 1 was sure of success. 
The two chief conditions which I exacted, was the ap- 
pointment of the first prince of the blood to the lieute- 
nant-generalship of the kingdom, and the consignment 
of power and the direction of affairs into my hands and 
those of my party. This experiment of my political 
measures was declined, and we therefore found our- 
selves necessitated, in some sort, to second the impulse 
of the party which I had wished to paralyze ; conceiving 
myself, besides, in a condition to substitute a more popu- 
lar government in the room of that which Napoleon 
threatened to revive. 

The alarm in the palace of the Tuileries hourly in- 
creasing in proportion as the march of Napoleon became 
more rapid and more secure ; the court again turned its 




MEMOIRS OF FOUCTfE. 429 



attention to my assistance. Some royalists interfered 
to obtain at least for me an interview with Monsieur, 
the king's brother, at the house of M. the comte d'Es- 
cars. I only required permission to go clandestinely to 
the chateau by night ; the publicity of such a proceed- 
ing being otherwise calculated to compromise my influ- 
ence with my party. Every thing was regulated accor- 
dingly. Monsieur did not allow me to wait long ; he 
was only accompanied by M. the comte d'Escars. The 
affability of this prince, his condescending deportment, 
his eager address, in which solicitude for the destinies 
of France and of his family was depicted; to sum up 
all, his generous and affecting language touched my 
heart and doubled ray regret that an interview of so 
vital an importance was decided upon too late. I de- 
clared, with grief, to this frank and loyal prince, that 
there was no longer time, and that it was now impossi- 
ble to serve the king's cause. It was at the conclusion 
of an interview which will never be erased from my 
mind, that subjugated by the charm of so august a con- 
fidence, and finding in the painful conviction of my own 
powerlessness a sudden inspiration of hope, I exclaimed, 
as I took leave of the prince, " take measures to save 
the king, and I will take steps to save the monarchy." 

Who could have imagined, that, after communications 
of so lofty an importance, there should almost imme- 
diately be set on foot against me, and against my liber- 
ty, a kind of plot, for plot it was, and a plot totally at 
variance with the genuine sentiments of the magnani- 
mous sovereign and his noble brother. Its authors I 
will reveal. But, whatever may be its cause, I was sit- 
ting, without any mistrust, in my hotel, when some 
agents of the Parisian police, at the head of which 
Bourienne had just been placed, suddenly made their 
appearance, accompanied by gendarmes to arrest me. 
Having timely intelligence, I hastily took measures for 
my escape. The agents of police had already proceed- 
ed to active search in my apartments, when the gendarmes, 
commissioned to execute the order of the new prefect, 



430 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

presented themselves before me. These men, who had 
so long obeyed ray orders, not daring to lay their hands 
on my person, contented themselves with giving me 
their written authority. I took the paper, opened it, 
and confidently said, " this order is not regular ; stay 
where you are while I go and protest it." I entered 
my closet, seated myself at my desk, and began to 
write. I then rose with a paper in my hand, and mak- 
ing a sudden turn, I precipitately descended into my 
garden by a secret door ; there I found a ladder attach- 
ed to a wall contiguous to the hotel of Queen Hortense, 
I lightly climbed it; one of my people raised the lad- 
der, which I took and let it fall on its feet on the other 
side of the wall ; this I quickly scaled, and descended 
with still more promptitude. I arrived, in the charac- 
ter of a fugitive, at the house of Hortense, who extend- 
ed her arms to me ; and, as if by some sudden transition 
of an Eastern tale, I suddenly found myself in the midst 
of the elite of the Bonapartists ; in the head-quarters of 
the party, where 1 found mirth and where my presence 
caused intoxication. 

This impromptu circumstance completed the dissipa- 
tion of that mistrust which the party entertained to- 
wards me ; and the same individuals, who, till then, had 
considered me in the light of an almost acquired partisan 
of the Bourbons, now beheld in me nothing more than 
an enemy proscribed by the Bourbons. 

Let it be here understood that political considerations 
had nothing to do with the attempt to arrest me. His 
royal highness Monsieur went so far as to say to some 
influential members of the second chamber, that it was 
against his knowledge that the attempt had been made 
to arrest me, and that he would answer for the safety 
of my person. 

This attempt was nothing but the result of an interest- 
ed contrivance between Savary, Bourienne, and B ; 

whatever might be the issue of the 20th of March, this 
triumvirate, or rather the three members of this tripot, 
had determined to secure to themselves the working of 



j^EMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 431 

the machine, and they had convinced themselves that it 
was necessary to sacrifice me, in order that their ambi- 
tious cupidity might acquire a kind of guarantee and 
consideration. 

If 1 had once fallen into their hands, what would 
they have done with me ? It has been said, that their 
object was to transfer me to Liile ; but no ! it was not 
Lille ; this I have learnt since ; but it was to the castle 
of Saumur ; and there, I repeat my question, what was 
the lot they intended for me ? If I may rely on disco- 
veries that my return to power elicited, one of my ene- 
mies (for all the three were not capable of crime) 
would have caused my assassination, and subsequently 
imputed my death to the royalists, who w^ould have 
borne the odium. 

Such was my singular position, that the departure of 
Louis XVIII. and the arrival of Napoleon were requi- 
site to give me entire liberty. Being one of the first 
to obtain intelligence that the Tuileries was vacant, I 
learnt at the same time that Lavalette had sent an ex- 
press to Fontainbleau, where Napoleon had just arriv- 
ed, to apprize him of the king's departure. Madame 
Ham — , who had intrigued so much in producing this 
innovation, was mortified that others should get the 
start of her, and, despatching an express with orders to 
overtake the preceding one, obtained by that means the 
honour of conveying the first intelligence. 

Carried onward by his soldiers and some portions of 
the populace. Napoleon resumed possession of the Tui- 
leries in the midst of his partisans, who exhibited the 
most clamorous triumph. I was not present at first 
among the other dignitaries of the state, with whom he 
conversed on the present aspect of his affairs. But Na- 
poleon sent for me : " So they wanted to carry you off," 
he said, as I approached him, " in order to prevent you 
from being useful to your country ? Well ! I now offer 
you an opportunity of doing her fresh service ; the 
period is difficult, but your courage, as well as mine, is 
superior to the crisis. Accept once more of the office 



432 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of minister of police." I represented to him that the 
office of foreign affairs was more an object of my ambi- 
tion than any other, persuaded as I was that I could in 
that quarter more than elsewhere do my country effec- 
tual service. " No," rejoined he, " take the duty of 
police; you have learnt to judge soundly of the state 
of the pubhc mind ; to divine, prepare, and direct the 
progress of events ; you understand the tactics, the re- 
sources, and the pretensions of the various parties ; the 
police is your forte." There was no way of receding. 
I gave him to understand in all its extent the dangerous 
posture of affairs ; and, as if he wished to engage me 
more deeply in his interest, he assured me that Austria 
and England, in order to balance the preponderance of 
Russia, secretly favoured his escape and return to 
France. Without giving credit to this assurance, I ac- 
cepted the office. 

The next day I learnt, through Regnault, who was 
devoted to me, that Bonaparte, always suspicious and 
mistrustful in my case, would have wished to keep me 
out of the circle of government ; but that he had yield- 
ed to the solicitations of Bassano, Caulaincourt, and of 
Regnault himself, and his partisans, who in disclosing 
their engagements with me, impressed upon his mind 
the importance of strengthening himself by my popu- 
larity and the adherence of the party which I directed. 

Cambaceres, who foresaw the fatal issue of this new 
interlude, did not accept till after much hesitation the 
office of minister of justice ; the porte-feuiUe of war was 
given to Davoust, who was much more attached to his 
fortune than to Napoleon. 

Caulaincourt, in the conviction that no relationship 
could be established with foreign powers, at first refus- 
ed the^office for foreign affairs. Napoleon offered it to 
Mole, who declined having any thing to do with it, and 
refused the home department at the same time. Too 
much devoted to the emperor to leave him without a 
minister, Caulaincourt at length acceded. From hand 
to hand, the home department at length passed into the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 433 

possession of Carnot, a nomination which was considered 
as a national guarantee. The marine was given to the 
cynical and brutal Decres ; and the secretaryship of state 
to Bassano, notorious for the reputation of thinking with 
Napoleon's thoughts, and seeing with his eyes. Out of de- 
ference to public opinion, Savary was omitted ; however, 
Moncey having refused the gendarmerie^ it was given to 
him ; at least, he was so far in his proper place. Cham- 
pagny and Montalivet, who had appeared invested with 
the highest employments, when Napoleon, almost mas- 
ter of the world, did not stand in so vascillating a posi- 
tion, modestly contented themselves, the one with the 
superintendence of public buildings, and the other with 
that of the civil list. Bertrand, equally amiable, insinu- 
ating, and zealous, superseded Duroc in the function of 
grand marshal of the palace. Napoleon restored to 
their duty about his person almost all the chamberlains, 
grooms, and masters of the ceremonies, who surrounded 
him before his abdication; but ill cured of his old un- 
happy passion for great lords, he must have them at any 
price ; he would have thought himself in the midst of a 
republic if he had not contrived to be environed by the 
ancient noblesse. 

Yet, nevertheless, those who had assisted him in 
crossing the Mediterranean pretended that he had 
thought as much of re-establishing the republic or the 
consulate as the empire. But 1 knew in what to trust 
on that head ; I knew what trouble I had among his 
adherents in getting them to abandon his oppressive 
system, and to engage him to give pledges to the liber- 
ties of the nation. His decrees from Lyons had not 
been voluntary ; he had there pledged himself to give 
a national constitution to France. " I return," he then 
said, " in order to protect and defend the interests 
which our revolution has engendered. It is my wish 
to give you an inviolable constitution, which shall be 
the joint work of the people and myself." By his de- 
crees at Lyons, he had abolished the chamber of peers 
by a single stroke of his pen, and annihilated the feudal 
55 



434 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

nobility. It was also at Lyons that, in the hope of 
averting the resentment of foreign powers, he had com- 
missioned his brother Joseph, then in Switzerland, to 
make known to them, through the intervention of their 
ministers to the Helvetic confederation, that he was 
positively determined on no longer troubling the repose 
of Europe, and on faithfully maintaining the treaty of 
Paris. 

This compulsory disposition on his part, the mistrust 
which he perceived was felt in the interior of France 
as to the sincerity of his secret thoughts, and I may add 
my own repulsive attitude, prescribed bounds to the 
impulses of a man who was prompted to rekindle the 
flames of war throughout Europe. In fact, on the very 
night of his arrival at the Tuileries, he commenced a 
deliberation as to the expediency of renewing the 
scourge of war by an invasion of Belgium. But a feel- 
ing of dislike having exhibited itself among those who 
surrounded him, he found it necessary to abandon this 
project; he succumbed beneath the hand of necessity, 
aithousfh once more armed with his ancient militarv 
power. That power, however, since the Lyons' de- 
crees, had changed its nature. 

By a decree of the 24th of March, suppressing the 
censorship and the regulation of publications, he con- 
summated what it was agreed to call the imperial resto- 
ration. The liberty of the press, so tumultuous a liber- 
ty in France, and which is, nevertheless, the mother of 
all other immunities, had been reconquered ; nor had I 
in a slight degree contributed to that reconquest, even 
in the presence of its greatest enemy. Napoleon ob- 
jected to me that the royalists, on one side, would em- 
ploy it to aid the cause of the Bourbons,— and the jaco- 
bins, on the other, to render his sentiments and projects 
suspected. " Sire," I rejoined, " the French require 
victory, or the nourishment of liberty." I insisted, 
also, that his decrees should contain no other epithets 
than that of emperor of the French, inducing him to 
suppress the ct ccBtera, remarked with uneasiness in hk 
proclamations and decrees from Lyons. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 435 

But he rejected the idea of being indebted to the 
patriots for his re-installation at the Tuileries. " Some 
intriguers," said he to me with bitterness, " wanted to 
appropriate the credit to themselves, and turn it to their 
own advantage. They now lay claim to having prepar- 
ed my progress to Paris; but I know to what I am in- 
debted, — the people, the soldiers, and the sub-lieuten- 
ants, have tjffected every thing; it is to them and them 
only that I owe the whole." I felt what was meant 
by these words, and that they were intended as a re- 
proof for my party and myself. 

It will be obvious that, with such feelings, it was in- 
dispensable for him to obtain a different police from 
mine. He sent for Real, whom he had just invested 
with the office of prefect of police; and, after having 
allured him with fine promises and more substantial gifts, 
sent him to Savary, in order to devise means of tracing 
and counteracting my designs, — but I was aware of 
them. 

In the mean while, he learnt with anxiety that Louis 
XVIII. proposed remaining in observation on the fron- 
tiers of Belgium. He had, besides, another cause of 
vexation; Ney, Lecourbe, and other generals, wished 
him to purchase their services, and to extort upon him; 
he grew indignant at this. The result of the royalist 
enterprise rather contributed to tranquillize him. He 
was astonished by the courage which the Duke d'An- 
gouleme exhibited in La Drome, and especially Madame 
at Bourdeaux. He admired the intrepidity of this he- 
roic princess, whom the desertion of an entire army had 
not been able to dispirit. I ought here to do justice to 
Murat. On being informed that Grouchy had just made 
the Duke d'Angouleme prisoner, in contempt of the ca- 
pitulation of Palud, to which the ratification of Napo- 
leon was alone wanting, and which was in fact obtained, 
but not sent off, Murat concealed the arrest of the 
prince from Napoleon, transmitted his original orders, 
and only apprized him of the nullification of the conven- 
tion, when the obscurity of night rendered all telegra- 
phic communication impossible. 



436 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

The next day it was proposed in council to obtain 
the crown diamonds, which were worth forty millions, 
in exchange for the Duke d'Angouleme. I recommend- 
ed the emperor to throw M. de Vitrolles into the bar- 
gain, if the restitution could be obtained. "No," said 
Napoleon, angrily : " he is an intriguer and an agent of 
Talleyrand; it was he who was despatched to the Em- 
peror Alexander, and who opened the gates of Paris to 
the allies. This man has been arrested at Toulouse, in 
the act of conspiring against me ; if he had been shot, 
Lamarque would have done no more than his duty." 
I, however, represented to him, that if military execu- 
cutions had been resorted to on both sides, France would 
soon have been covered with blood; that political rea- 
sons prescribed a more temporising system; and that in 
restoring the Duke d'Angouleme to liberty, some stipu- 
lation could be made for M. de Vitrolles, who was only 
the avowed agent of the Bourbons. To this he at 
length acceded, and I instantly set on foot a negotiation 
on the subject. 

We had many other causes of inquietude. Caulairi- 
court had just had an interview, at the house of Ma- 
dame de Souza, with Baron de Vincent, the Austrian 
minister, whose passport was designedly delayed. This 
minister did not disguise that it was the resolution of 
the allied powers to oppose Napoleon's retention of the 
throne; but he suffered it to be perceived, that Napo- 
leon's son did not inspire the same repugnance. It has 
been seen that it was upon this basis that I previously 
modelled the plan of an edifice, which I considered my- 
self at that time in better condition to erect. 

Napoleon caused the Emperor Alexander and Prince 
Metternich to be written to by Hortense, and also the 
latter by his sister the Queen of Naples, hoping in this 
way to deaden the force of the blows which he was not 
yet prepared to encounter. He at the same time commis- 
sioned Eugene, and the Princess Stephanie of Baden, to 
neglect nothing, in order to detach them from the coali- 
tion. Meanwhile he caused overtures to be made to 
ihe cabinet of London by an agent whom I pointed out 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 437 

to him. And in conclusion, he hoped to ingratiate him- 
self with the English parliament and nation, by a decree 
abolishing the negro slave trade. 

Notwithstanding this, all our external communications 
were intercepted by order of the various cabinets. The 
proceedings of the congress of Vienna furnished a sub- 
ject of deep attention, and the most painful anxiety at 
the Tuileries. We at length learnt, in a specific man- 
ner, what the public already knew ; the declaration of 
the congress of Vienna, dated the 13th of March, which 
pronounced the outlawry of Napoleon. France was 
from that time terrified at the evils which the future 
prepared for her ; she groaned at the thoughts of being 
exposed to the horrors of a new invasion, for the sake 
of a single man. Napoleon affected not to be moved ; 
and told us in full council : " this time they will find 
that they have not to d^al with the France of 1814; 
and their success, if they obtain it, will only serve to 
render the war more sanguinary and obstinate; while, 
on the other hand, if victory favour me, I may become 
as formidable as ever. Have I not on my side Belgium, 
and the provinces on this side the Rhine. With the 
aid of a proclamation, and a tricolor flag, I will revolu- 
tionize them in twenty-four hours." 

I was far from allowing myself to be lulled into secu- 
rity by such gasconades as these. The moment I ob- 
tained knowledge of the declaration, I did not hesitate 
to request the king, by means of an agent on whom I 
could rely, to permit me to devote myself, when oppor- 
tunity occurred, to his service. I demanded no other 
condition in return, but the right of preserving my re- 
pose and fortune in my seclusion at Pont-Carre. The 
overture was fully accepted, and sanctioned by Lord 
Wellington, who arrived just then at Glient from the 
congress at Vienna ; the same kind of convention had 
already been concluded, as far as I was concerned, be- 
tween Prince Metternich, Prince de Talleyrand, and 
the generalissimo of the allies. 

It will not be irrelevant to explain in this place, ^he 



438 3IEM0tRS OF FOUCHE. 

occasion of that good feeling which I met with from 
the Wellesley family, not only on the part of the mar- 
quis, but also on that of Lord Wellington. It had its 
origin in the zeal which I manifested at the period of 
my second ministry, in putting an end to the captivity of 
a member of that illustrious family, who was detained in 
France in consequence of the rigorous measures enforc- 
ed by Napoleon's orders. 

The treaty of^the 25th of March, by which the great 
powers engaged on their side not to lay down their 
arms while Napoleon was on the throne, was only the 
natural consequence of the decision of the 13th. All 
indirect overtures had completely failed. "No peace, 
no truce, with that individual," replied the Emperor 
Alexander, to Queen Hortense ; " with any but him." 
Flahaut who was sent to Vienna, was not allowed to 
pass Stutgard ; and Talleyrand refused to enter the 
service of Napoleon. Notwithstanding, however, the 
manner in which his first overtures were discountenanc- 
ed, he decided on making new applications to the Em- 
peror of Austria. At the same time that he sent the 
baron de Stassart to him, he despatched to M. de Tal- 
leyrand, MM. de S. L. and de Monteron, well known 
by their connexion with that statesman, and the last be- 
ing his most intimate and devoted friend. But these 
attempts of the second order could scarcely produce 
much effect upon the general course of things. 

I daily became an object of greater umbrage to Na- 
poleon, especially as I never let slip any occasion of re- 
pressing his despotic inclination, and the revolutionary 
measures which lie promulgated. I was known by no 
other name among his partisans, than that of the minis- 
ter of Ghent. Thg following were his new sources of 
disquietude; M. de Blacas, who, deaf to all advice, suf- 
fered the affair of the 20th of March to ripen, without 
believing it, and without troubling his head about it, 
forgot in the hurry and anxiety of his departure, a mass 
of papers, which might have compromised a great num- 
ber of respectable individuals. On being informed of 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 439 

this fact, I had been prompted by an instinctive fore- 
sight, from the 21st of March, to authorize the notary 
Laine, colonel of the national guard, to occupy M. de 
Blacas' cabinet, arrange all the papers, and burn all 
such whose signatures might have contiibuted to disturb 
the peace of individuals. Savary and Keal having 
tracked me in this operation, the emperor made a de- 
mand upon me for the papers, which 1 presented to him 
in a bundle. Finding nothing among them but unimpor- 
tant matters, he did not fail to suspect me of having 
withdrawn those which he had an interest in seeing. 

On the 25th of March, he exiled by decree to the 
distance of 30 leagues from Paris, the royalists, the 
Vendean chiefs, and the royal volunteers and gardes du 
corps. As I was opposed to this general measure, I 
had the chief of them summoned into my presence, and 
after having testified the sympathy I felt for their si- 
tuation, and explained the attempts I had made to pre- 
vent their exile, I authorized them generally to remain 
at Paris. 

The vexation which the royalist intrigues gave Napo- 
leon, and my desire to mitigate measures, induced him 
to promulgate his famous decree, which is thought to 
have been concocted at Lyons, though it did not see the 
light till it reached Paris, by which he ordained the trial 
and sequestration of the property of MM.de Talleyrand, 
Raguse, d'Alberg, Montesquiou, Jaucourt, Beurnonville, 
Lynch, Vitrolles, Alexis de Noailles, Bourienne, Bel- 
lard, Laroche-Jacquelin and Sosthene de Larochefou- 
cauld. Among this list was also found the name of 
Augereau ; but it was erased at the entreaty of his 
wife, and in consideration of his proclamation on the 
23rd of March. I expressed myself very openly in the 
council, on the subject of this new proscription list; in 
getting up which, all private deliberation had been 
eluded. I maintained it was an act of venseance and 
despotism, an early infraction of the promises made to 
the nation, and which would not fail to be followed by 
public disapprobation. In fact, some echoes of it had 
already been heard within the palace of the Tuileriep. 



440 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Meanwhile, England and Austria were on the point 
of successively adopting a decisive policy, the object of 
which was to aggravate the isolated position of Napo- 
leon. In her memorandum of the 25th of April, En- 
gland declared, that by the treaty of the 29th of March, 
she had not engaged to replace Louis XVIIl. on the 
throne, and that her intention was not to prosecute the 
war with a view of imposing any government whatever 
upon France. A similar declaration on the part of Aus- 
tria, appeared on the 9th of May following. In the in- 
terim, I was very near committing myself in a serious 
manner with respect to Austria. A secret agent of 
Prince Metternich, having been despatched to me, that 
individual in consequence of his imprudence, was sus- 
pected, and the emperor ordered Real to have him ar- 
rested. Terror was of course employed to extort con- 
fessions from him. He declared that he had remitted 
me a letter from the prince, and a sign of mutual re- 
cognition, which was to be employed by the agent 
■whom 1 was about to despatch to Bale, in order to con- 
fer with M. Werner, his confidential delegate. The 
emperor instantly sent for me, as if he wanted an inter- 
view upon public business. His first thought was to 
have ray papers seized, but that he quickly abandoned, 
in the persuasion that I Avas not a man to leave traces 
of what might compromise me. Not having the slight- 
est intimation that JPrince Metternlch's envoy had been 
arrested, 1 neither exhibited embarrassment nor anxie- 
ty. The emperor inferring from my silence on the sub- 
ject of this secret correspondence, that I was betraying 
him, convoked his partisans, told them I was a traitor, 
that he had proofs of it, and that he was about to have 
me shot. A thousand protestations were immediately 
heard against it ; it was suggested to him that proofs 
clearer than daylight were indispensable, in order to 
warrant an act which would produce the most violent 
sensation in the public mind. Carnot, seeing that he 
persevered, told him "it is in your power to have 
Fouche shot, but, to-morrow at the same hour, your 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 441 

power will have departed." — "How?" said the empe- 
ror — "Yes, sire," returned Carnot, "there is no longer 
any time to dissemble ; the men of the revolution will 
only suffer you to reign as long as they have security 
that you will respect their liberties. If you cause 
Fouche to be put to death by martial law, Fouche 
whom they consider as their strongest guarantee, you 
may be assured of it, that to-morrow you will no longer 
possess any influence over public opinion. If Fouche 
be really guilty, you must obtain convincing proofs of it, 
expose him subsequently to the nation, and put him on 
his trial according to form." In this opinion all the 
rest coincided ; it was decided that efforts should be 
made to detect the intrigue, and that an agent should 
be sent to Bale, in order to obtain the necessary proofs 
for my conviction. The emperor confided this mission 
to his secretary Fleury.* Supplied with all the neces- 
sary signs of recognition, he immediately departed for 
Bale, and subsequently opened communications with 
M. Werner, as if he had been sent by myself. 

It may be easily guessed, that the first question he 
put to him, was to inform himself of the means on 
which the allies calculated for the destruction of Napo- 
leon. M. Werner said, that nothing certain was decid- 
ed on the subject ; that the allies had not inclined to 
resort to force, but at the last extremity : that they 
had hoped that I might be able to find some means for 
delivering France from Bonaparte, without new effusion 
of blood. Fleury, continuing to act his part; said: 
"there only remain, then, two methods to pursue; to 
dethrone him, or assassinate him." — " To assassinate 
him," exclaimed M. Werner, with indignation : " never 
did such an idea present itself to the mind of M. de 
Metternich and the allies." Fleury, notwithstanding 
all his artifices, and his captious queries, could obtain no 
other attestation against me, except the conviction of 
M. de Metternich, that I hated the emperor, and the 

* Baron Fleury de Chaboulon. — Note by the French Edit. 
56 



442^ / MEMOmq^ OF FOUCHE. 

circumstance that such conviction had prompted him to 
open communications with me. 

I had taken so httle pains to disguise my opinion In 
that respect from Prince Metternich, that the preced- 
ing year, (1814,) at a similar epoch, on seeing him at 
Paris, I reproached him warmly with not having caused 
Bonaparte to be confined in a fortress, predicting that 
he would return from Elba to renew his ravages in 
Europe. Fleury, and M. Werner separated, one to re- 
turn to Vienna, and the other to Paris, in order to pro- 
vide themselves with fresh instructions, and with a pro- 
mise of meeting at Bale again in eight days. 

But Fleury had scarcely resumed his journey to Bale, 
when a second direct emissary having given me intima- 
tion, and enabled me to make a discovery of what was 
passing, I put the letter of Prince Metternich in my 
poi'tfeuille : and after my business with the emperor 
was done, feigning a sudden recollection : " Ah, sire," 1 
said to him, with the tone of a man awaking from a long 
forget fulness, " how overwhelmed I must be with the 
state of public affairs. I am positively besieged in my 
cabinet; and so it is that for several days, I have for- 
gotten to lay a letter of Prince Metternich under your 
eye. It is for your majesty to decide, whether I shall 
send him the agent which he requires. What can be 
his object? I can scarcely doubt that the allies, in or- 
der to avert the calamities of a genei'al war, wish to 
induce you to abdicate in favour of your son. I am sa- 
tisfied, that such is the especial desire of M. de Met- 
ternich : indeed, I must reiterate that such is mine : I 
have never concealed it from you ; and I am still per- 
suaded that it will be impossible for you to resist the 
arms of united Europe." I instantly perceived by the 
play of his physiognomy, that he Avas suffering an inter- 
nal struggle between the dissatisfaction which my frank- 
ness occasioned him, and the satisfaction he derived 
from the explanation of my conduct. 

When Fleury returned, the emperor sent him to me 
to make a confession of the whole proceeding, as if his 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 443 

intention had been to subjugate my confidence. I had 
no great difficulty in cajoling a young man replete with 
animation and impetuosity, and who employed a serious 
and studied finesse, in order to prevent my divining the 
second rendezvous which he had at Bale. I suffered 
him to depart ; he arrived there post haste, and had 
the fatigues of his journey and the heat of his vehe- 
ment zeal for his pains. Meanwhile, Monteron and 
Bresson, who came from Vienna, commissioned to bring 
me confidential communications on behalf of M. de Met- 
ternich, and M. de Talleyrand, renewed the feehng of 
distrust which Napoleon entertained towards me. He 
sent for them both : questioned them for a considera- 
ble time ; and could extract nothing of a positive nature 
from either. Urged by his uneasy feehngs, he wanted 
to place them under surveillance : but he learnt^ with 
much dissatisfaction, that Bresson had suddenly depart- 
ed for England, with an ostensible commission fromDa- 
voust, for the purchase of forty thousand muskets con- 
tracted for by a gunsmith. He did not fail to suspect 
a secret intelligence between Davoust and me, and that 
Bresson was an instrument. 

Situated as I was, it was incumbent on me to neglect 
nothing to preserve the favour of the public opinion : I 
also possessed ray vehicles of popularity, in my circu- 
lars and anti-royalist reports. I had just established 
throughout France, lieutenants of police, who were de- 
voted to me ; the choice of secret agents was centred 
in me alone ; I got possession of the journals, and thus 
became master of public opinion. But I iiad soon upon 
my hands an affair of quite different importance ; the 
unseasonable insurrection of La Vendee, which discon- 
certed all my plans. It was incumbent on me to have 
the royalists on my side, but not to suffer them to med- 
dle with our affairs. In this particular, my views cor- 
responded with the interests of Napoleon. He was 
apparently much chagrined at this new fermentation of 
the old leaven. I hastened to make him easy, by as- 
suring him, that I would soon extinguish it ; that he 



444 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

had only to give me carte blanche, and to place twelve 
thousand of the old troops at my disposal. In the con- 
viction that I should not sacrifice them to the Bour- 
bons, he left me at full liberty to take my own mea- 
sures. I easily persuaded some idiots of the royalist 
party, whose opinions I modelled after my own fashion, 
that this war of some few fanatics was unseasonable : 
that the measures which it would suggest would repro- 
duce the reign of terror, and occasion the revolutionary 
party to be let loose ; that it was absolutely necessary 
to obtain an order from the king, to cause this rabble 
to lay down their arms : that the grand question could 
not be decided in the interior, but on the frontiers. 1 
immediately despatched off three negotiators, Malartic, 
Flavigny and Laberaudiere, furnished with instructions 
and orders to confer with such of the chiefs as the pub- 
lic effervescence had not yet involved in this party ; 
and who would be glad to be supplied with a plea for 
waiting the course of events. All was soon arranged ; 
the affair was brought to a conclusion at the expense of 
a few skirmishes, and at the decisive moment La Ven- 
dee was all at once repressed and composed. 

The commencement of war by Murat caused me 
another description of uneasiness, and so much the 
more serious, as neither the emperor nor myself 
were possessed of efficacious means of supporting or 
directing him. Unfortunately the impulse came from 
us, for it was necessary that some one should bell the 
cat. But that individual, who always overstepped 
moderation, was not able to stop in proper time ; 
1 wrote to him in vain at a later period, as well as 
to the queen, begging him to be moderate, and not 
to urge events too violently, which we should, probably, 
too soon be obliged to obey. When I learnt that his 
troops were already ensjaged with the troops of Aus- 
tria, I said to myself, " That man is lost ; the contest is 
not equal." The issue was that he ingulfed himself in 
the billows which he had set afloat. 

Towards the end of May, he disembarked as a fugi- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 445 

live in the gulf of Juan. This news had all the sinister 
effect of a fatal omen, and involved the partisans of the 
emperor in consternation. 

On the other hand, Napoleon found himself involved 
in a labyrinth of affairs, each more serious than its pre- 
decessor, and in the midst of which, all his feelings 
were absolved in one supreme idea, that of confronting 
the armaments of Europe. He would have wished to 
transform France into a camp, and its towns into arse- 
nals. The soldiers appertained to him, but the citizens 
were participated by others. It was, moreover, not 
without fear that he set the instruments of the revolu- 
tion in motion, by authorizing the re-establishment of 
popular clubs, and the formation of civic confedera- 
tions ; circumstances which gave him occasion to fear 
that he had regenerated anarchy — he who had boast- 
ed so much of having disenthroned it. What solici- 
tudes, what anxieties, and what constraint was he com- 
pelled to infuse into his measures, in order to mitigate 
the violence of associations so dangerous to be control- 
led ! 

This affectation of popularity had upheld him in pub- 
lic opinion until the moment of his acte additionel aus 
constitutions de ^empire. Napoleon considered the lat- 
ter as his title deeds to the crown, and in annulling 
them he would have considered himself in the light of 
commencing a new reign. He who could only date 
from possession, de facto, preferred to model his sys- 
tem in a ridiculous manner, after the fashion of Louis 
XVni., who computed time according to the data of 
legitimacy. Instead of a national constitution, which 
he had promised, he contented himself with modifying 
the political laws and the senatus consulta \s\nc\\ govern- 
ed the empire. He re-established the confiscation of 
property, against which almost all his counsellors pro- 
tested. In fine, he persevered in a council held upon 
this subject, not to submit his constitution to public que- 
ry, and to present it to the nation as an acte addition- 
nel. I strongly contended against his resolution, as well 



1 
446 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

as Decres, Caulaincourt, and almost all the members 
present. He persisted, in spite of our exertions, to 
comprise all his concessions within the compass of this 
irregular design. 

The word additionnel disenchanted the friends of li- 
berty. They recognised in it the ill-disguised continu- 
ation of the chief institutions, created in favour of abso- 
lute power. From that moment Napoleon to their 
view became an incurable despot ; and I, for my part, 
regarded him in the light of a mad man delivered bound 
hand and foot to the mercy of Europe. Confined to 
that description of popular suffrage, which Savary and 
Real directed, he caused some of the lowest classes to 
be assembled, and the latter, under the name of Fede- 
res^ marched in procession under the windows of the 
Tuiieries, uttering repeatedly exclamations of Vive 
V Kmpereur ! There he himself announced to this mo- 
bocracy that if the kings dared to attack him he would 
proceed to encounter them at the frontiers. This hu- 
miliating scene disgusted even the soldiers. Never had 
the extraordinary individual in question, who had worn 
the purple with so much lustre, contributed so greatly 
to degrade it. He was no longer, in patriotic opinion, 
considered in other light than as an actor subjected to 
the applauses of the vilest of the populace. Scenes of 
this humiliating description made a strong impression on 
my mind ; well assured, moreover, that all the allied 
powers, unanimous in their resolution, were preparing 
to march against us, or, rather, against him, 1 proceed- 
ed early the next day to the Tuiieries ; and a second 
time I represented to Napoleon, instill stronger colours, 
that it was an absolute impossibility for France, m her 
divided condition, to sustain the assault of universal and 
united Europe ; that it was incumbent upon him to ex- 
plain himself frankly to the nation ; to assure himself 
of the ultimate intentions of the allied sovereigns, and 
that if they persisted, as every thing gave reason to in- 
fer, there would then be no possibility of hesitation ; 
that his interests, and those of his country, imposed up- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 447 

on him the obligation of withdrawing to the United 
States. 

But, from the reply which he stammered, in which 
he mingled plans of campaigns, punishments, battles, in- 
surrections, colossal projects, decrees of destiny, I per- 
ceived that he was resolved to trust the fate of France 
to the issue of war, and that the military faction carried 
Ihe day in spite of my admonitions. 

The assembly of the Cliamp-de-Mai was nothing but 
a vain pageantry, in which Napoleon, in the garb of a 
citizen, hoped to mislead the populace by the charm of 
a public ceremony. The different parties were not 
more satisfied with it, than they had been with the acte 
additionnel ; one faction wished that he had re-estab- 
lished a republic ; and the other that in divesting him- 
self of the crown, he had left the sovereign people in 
possession of the right of offering it to the most worthy; 
and, finally, the coalition of statesmen, of whom I con- 
stituted the soul, reproached him with not having avail- 
ed himself of that solemnity to proclaim Napoleon II. 
— an event which would have given us a point cPappid 
in certain cabinets, and, probably, would have preserved 
us from a second invasion. It will not be denied that, 
in the critical position of France, the last expedient 
Avould have been most reasonable. 

As soon as we had acquired the conviction that all 
attempts to produce this result in the interior of France 
would be unsuccessful, without proceeding to the extre- 
mity of a deposition, wiiich the military party would 
not have suffered, it was necessary to make up our 
minds to the anticipation of seeing all the gates of war 
thrown open. My impatience then augmented, and I 
laboured to accelerate the march of events. It was in 
vain that Davoust, in council, had reiterated to Napoleon 
that his presence at the army was indispensable ; rely- 
ing too little on the capital to leave it behind him for 
any length of time without mistrust, he did not resolve 
on his departure till every thing was ready to strike an 
-effectual blow on the frontiers of Belgium, in the hope 



448 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

of making his debut by a triumph, and of re-conquering 
popularity by victory. He departed ; he departed, I 
say, leaving the care of his Jederes to Real; large sums 
of money to get them to cry " Napoleon, or Death ;" 
and authority as to the publication of his military bulle- 
tins, with a plan of the campaign arranged for the offen- 
sive, and the secret of which was communicated to me 
by Davoust. 

In this decisive condition of affairs, my position became 
yery delicate, as well as very difficult ; I wished to have 
nothing further to do with Napoleon ; yet, if he should 
be victorious, I should be compelled to submit to his 
yoke, as well as the whole of France, whose calamities 
he would prolong. On the other hand, I had engage- 
ments with Louis XVIII. ; not that I was inclined to his 
restoration; but prudence required that I should pro- 
cure for myself before hand something in the shape of 
a guarantee. My agents, moreover, to M. de Metter- 
nich and Lord Wellingtorj had promised mountains and 
marvels. The generalissimo, at least, expected that I 
should provide him with the plan of the campaign. 

In the first instance — but the voice of my country, 
the glory of the French army which appeared to me 
in any other light than that of the nation, in short, the 
dictates of honour startled me at the thought, that the 
word traitor might ever become an appendage to the 
name of the Duke d'Otranto ; and my resolution re- 
mained unsullied. Meantime, in such a conjuncture, 
•what part was to be taken by a statesman, to whom it 
is never permitted to remain without resources ? This 
is the resolution I took. I knew positively that the 
unexpected onset of Napoleon's force would occur on the 
16th or 18th, at latest; Napoleon, indeed, determined 
to give battle on the 17th to the English army, after 
detaching them from the Prussians, and marching to the 
attack sur le ventre of the latter. He was so much the 
better justified in expecting success from his plan, since 
Wellington, deceived from false reports, imagined it 
possible to delay the opening of the campaign till the 



MEMOIRS OF FOUGHE. 449 

1st of July. The success of Napoleon rested, therefore^ 
on the success of a surprise ; I took my measures accord- 
ingly. On the very day of Napoleon's departure, I 

provided Madame D with notes, written in cipher, 

disclosing the plan of the campaign, and sent her ofK 
At the same time I occasioned impediments on that 
part of the frontier which she was to pass, in such a 
manner as to prevent her reaching the head-cjuarters of 
Wellington, till after the result. This is a true expla- 
nation of the inconceivable supineness of the generalis- 
simo, which occasioned so universal an astonishment, 
and conjectures of so opposite a description. 

If, therefore, Napoleon fell, it was owing to his own 
destiny ; treason had nothing to do with his defeat. 
He, himself, did all that could be done in order to con- 
quer ; but he omitted to invest his fall with dignity. 
If I am asked what I think he ought to have done, I 
will reply, as old Horace did — He should have died. 

It was on condition of his coming out of the contest 
as a victor, that the patriots had consented to give him 
their support ; he was vanquished, and they considered 
the compact at an end. I learnt, at the same moment, 
the circumstance of his nocturnal arrival at I'EIysee, 
and that at Laon, after his defeat, Maret, at his insti- 
gation, had broached the advice of his quitting the 
array, and proceeding, without loss of time, to Paris, in 
order to avert a sudden re-action. I was also informed 
in the morning, that Lucien, keeping up his courage, 
endeavoured to derive resources from a desperate reso- 
lution ; that he urged him to seize the dictatorship, — 
to surround himself with nothing but military elements, 
— and to dissolve the chamber. 

It was then that I was impressed with the necessity 
of setting in motion all the resources of my position, 
and my experience. The defeat of the emperor, his 
presence at I aris which occasioned a universal indip-na- 
tion, provided me with a favourable opportunity of 
extorting from him an abdication, which ho declined, 
when it might have been of service. I set in motion 

r»7 



450 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

all ray friends, all mj adherents, and all my agents, 
whom I provided with the watch-word. As to myself, 
I communicated, in full council, with the Slite of all the 
parties in the state. To the unquiet, mistrustful, and 
obnoxious members of the chamber, I said : " It is 
necessary to act ; to say little ; and resort to force ; he 
js become perfectly insane ; he is decided upon dissolv- 
ing the chamber, and seizing the dictatorship. I trust 
we shall not suffer such a return to tyranny as this." 
I said to the partisans of Napoleon : " Are you not 
aware that the ferment against the emperor has reach- 
ed the highest pitch among the majority of the deputies. 
His fall is desired ; his abdication is demanded. If you 
are bent on serving him, you have but one certain path 
to follow, and that is to make head vigorously against 
them, to show them what power you still retain, and to 
affirm that his single word will be sufficient in order to 
dissolve the chamber." I also entered into their lan- 
guage and views; they then disclosed their secret incli- 
nations, and I was enabled to say to the heads of the 
patriots, who rallied round me ; " you perceive that his 
best friends make no mystery of it ; the danger is press- 
ing ; in a few hours the chambers will exist no longer ; 
and you will have much to answer for, in neglecting 
to seize the only moment when you could prevent a 
dissolution." 

The council being assembled, Napoleon caused Maret 
to read the bulletin of the battle of Waterloo ; and 
concluded by declaring, that in order to save his country, 
it was indispensable that he should be invested with 
larger powers ; in short, with a temporary dictatorship. 
That it was in his power to seize it, but that he thought 
it more useful and more national to wait for its being 
conferred on him by the chambers. . I left to such of 
my colleagues who thought and acted with me, the 
task of contending a.oainst this proposition, which had 
already fallen into disrepute, and was incapable of 
making a stand. 

It was then that M. de la Fayette, apprisied of what 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 451 

was passing in the council, and sure of tb^ majoritj, 
made a motion for the permanency of the chambers, a 
motion which disconcerted the whole mihtary party, 
and rallying the patriotic party, conferred upon it a 
considerable moral force. 

Kept in check by the chambers. Napoleon did not 
dare to take any other step ; he sounded Davoust as to 
the feasibility of effecting its dissolution by military 
means ; but Davoust declined. 

The next day, we all manoeuvred to extort his abdi- 
cation. There was a multitude of missions backwards 
and forwards, parleys, objections, replies— in a word, 
evolutions of every description ; ground was taken, 
abandoned, and again retaken. At length, after a warm 
battle, Napoleon surrendered in full council, under the 
conviction that longer resistance was useless ; then turn- 
ing to me, he said, with a sardonic smile, " write to your 
gentry to make themselves easy ; they shall be satisfied." 
Lucien took up the pen, and composed, under Napo- 
leon's dictation, the act of abdication as it was given to 
the world. 

Here then was a change of scene ; the power having 
passed away from the hands of Napoleon, who was to re- 
main master of the field ! I soon detected the secret designs 
of the cabinet ; I discovered that the Bonapartist party, 
now under the guidance of Lucien, intended, as a conse- 
quence of the abdication, to countenance the immediate 
proclamation of Napoleon the IL, and the establishment 
of a council of regency. This would have been to have 
suffered the hostile camp to triumph. In fact, that re- 
gency which had been for so long a time the drift of 
all my calculations, and the object of all my desires, be- 
ing: now about to be orsranized under another influence 
than mine, excluded me from a share in the govern- 
ment. It was necessary, therefore, to recur to new 
combinations, and to man counter-batteries, in order, 
with equal address, to defeat the system of the regency 
and the restoration of the Bourbons. I therefore con- 
reived the creation of a provisional government estab-^ 



452 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

lishedin conformity with my own suggestions, and which, 
in consequence, I should be able to direct according to 
my own views. I yjreseoted myself to the chamber 
with a view of inducing it to act with decision in conse- 
crating the principles and the laws of the revolution. 

The chamber having accepted the abdication of Na- 
poleon without noticing the condition it contained, Lu- 
cien exerted himself to procure the proclamation of 
Napoleon 11. He had in his favour the federes^ the 
soldiers, the populace, and a large part of the chamber 
of peers. I had on my side the majority of the lower 
chamber, a party also in the chamber of peers, the 
greater part of the generals, and the royalists, who 
courted and surrounded me in the hope that I should 
direct the throw of the dye in favour of the Bourbons. 

Lucien had already sent Real to the Elysee in order 
to assemble i\\efederes under the windows of Napoieoiij. 
It was with great difficulty that the assent of the ex- 
emperor was obtained ; it was only procured by remark- 
ing that my party intended to consider his abdication as 
a single and unqualified act ; that if he did not at least 
preserve some shadow of his power, neither his secu- 
rity by flight nor the conveyance of his wealth could be 
answered for; that, moreover, the abdication in favour 
of his son might probably induce Austria to obtain more 
favourable conditions from the rest of the allies in his 
behalf. Real immediately entered the field, and raked 
together all the canaille of Paris in the Champs Elysees ; 
while Lucien on his side entered his carriage, and hur- 
ried to the chamber of peers, where he exclaimed in an 
harangue got up for the occasion : " The emperor is 
dead ; long live the emperor ; let us proclaim JYapoleon 
II. f'' The majority appeared to accede to this propo- 
sal. Lucien returned in triumph to the Champs Elysees^ 
instructed the two or three thousand brigands whom 
Real had assembled round the palace in their part, 
and got them to promise to proceed to the chamber of 
representatives, in order to determine the proclamation 
of Napoleon II. Hfe re-entered the Elysee^ and returned 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 453 

upon the terrace with his brother, whose countenance 
betrayed evident marks of depression. There Napo- 
leon saluted the band of fanatics with some gesticula- 
tions of his hand, as thej defiled before him with accla- 
mations of " Long live our emperor and his son ; we will 
have no others 

But these demonstrations of their zeal gave me little* 
uneasiness. I had my eje upon the most inconsiderable 
movements, and the only staunch political string was iR 
my hands. I had, moreover, secured to myself an ini- 
tiative influence ; and at the very moment of this ridi- 
culous hubbub, the chamber named an executive pro- 
visional committee, the presidentship of which devolved 
upon me. 

Meanwhile Real had given the pass-word to the* 
Jederes, ordering them to march in procession before 
the palace of the legislative body ; they floclced thither 
in crowds ; but it was too late ; the terrified legislators 
had just abandoned the hall, after having appointed a 
committee. Night dispersed the mob, which, in passing 
through the streets of Paris, affrighted the citizens with 
the discharge of their muskets, and set up loud cries of 
" Death to all who refused to recognise Napoleon 11." 

The agitation of the day was terminated by noctur- 
nal meetings, the preludes of one of the most animated 
of public sittings which was to occur on the following ' 
day. Next morning, I and my colleagues, Caulaincourt,' 
Carnot, Quinette, and General Grenier, entered on our 
new possession of the reins of government. We were >' 
proceeding in the task of our organization, Avhen I learnt '^ 
that the deputy Berenger, at the opening of the sitting, 
had just demanded that the members of the committee 
should be held collectively responsible. The obvious 
drift of this proposal was to engage each of them to se- 
parate themselves from my vote, and to supervise my 
proceedings, as a consequence of the mistrust which I 
occasioned the Bonapartist faction. As if he had not 
said enough, Berenger added, " if these men be invio- 
lable, you will, in case any of them should betray his 
duty, possess no means of punishing him," 



454 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE/ 

I cared very little for these under-handed attacks; 
as I have before said, mj party was the strongest. 

The Councillor Boulay de la Meurthe, one of the 
most zealous partisans of Bonaparte, proceeded to vent 
a philippic, in which he pointed out and denounced the 
Orleans faction ; this was apprizing the friends of the 
Bourbons and the Bonapartists, that a third party was 
making its appearance in favour of the doctrine of de 
facto government, which three months before we had 
opposed to the doctrine of legitimacy. 

It is certain, that, finding myself embarked with a 
new party, more accordant with my principles than 
those which offered no other prospect than an absolute 
government or counter-revolution; and, feeling the im- 
possibility of preserving the throne of Napoleon II., I 
was disposed to second the efforts of this new party, 
provided the cabinets did not exhibit too hostile a feel- 
ing towards it. The declamation of Boulay had for its 
principal object to cause the proclamation of Napoleon 
II. by the chamber. The party was strongly bound 
together, and it required some address to avert its at- 
tack. M. Manuel undertook the delicate task in a dis- 
course which obtained universal concurrence, and in 
which it was fancied that the stamp of my policy was 
discernible. He concluded by opposing himself to the 
design of investing any member of the Bonaparte family 
with the regency ; that was the decisive point, and that 
was abandoning the field of battle to me. The assent 
of the chamber was a new guarantee to the committee 
of government, and conferred upon me in my character 
of president, an incontestable preponderance in public 
affairs. 

Our first operation, after being installed on the 23d 
of June, was to cause the war to be declared national, 
and to send five plenipotentiaries* to the head-quarters 

* These plenipotentiaries were M. de Lafayette, Laforet, Pont^- 
coulaut, d'Argenson, and Sebastiani. M. Benjamin Constant accom- 
panied them in quality of secretary to the embassy. — Note by the 
French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 455 

of the allies, with powers to negotiate peace, and to 
signify assent to any species of government but that of 
the Bourbons. Their secret instructions went to the 
effect of conferring the crown, in default of Napoleon 
IL, on the King of Saxony, or the Duke of Orleans, 
whose party had been reinforced by a great number of 
deputies and generals. 

1 confess that I, in this measure, made rather a large 
concession to the actual projectors, and that I secretly 
entertained strong doubts as to their attainment of the 
object they proposed. I had also so much the more 
reason to believe that the cause of the Bourbons was 
far from desperate, as one of my secret agents shortly 
arrived to inform me of Louis XVIII.'s entry into Cam- 
bray, and to bring me his royal declaration. Our pleni- 
potentiaries, therefore, were at first amused with dila- 
tory answers. 

My position may be conceived. The party of Napo- 
leon, always in activity, was recruited, if I may use the 
term, by eighty thousand soldiers, who arrived to make 
a stand under the walls of Paris ; while the allied armies 
rapidly advanced on the capital, driving before them all 
the battalions and divisions which attempted to obstruct 
their passage. It was incumbent upon me, at one and 
the same time, to secure the generals, in order to con- 
trol the army ; to counteract the new plans of Bona- 
parte, which tended to nothing short of replacing him 
at the head of the troops ; and to repress the impa- 
tience of the royalists, whose wish it was to open the 
gates of Paris to Louis XVIII. — and all this in the 
midst of the unloosing of so many contending passions, 
whence terrible convulsions were likely to be engen- 
dered. 

I will not occupy myself with narrating in this place 
a multitude of minor intrigues, of accessory details, of 
collisions and chicaneries, which, during the tornado, in- 
flicted upon me ail the tribulations of power. Previous 
to the abdication, I was spied upon, and continually kept 



456 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

cm the qui vive by the zealous partisans of Napoleon, 
such as Maret, Thibaudeau, Boulay de la Meurthe, and 
even Regnauit, who was sometimes in my favour, and 
sometimes opposed to me ; now, I had to defend my- 
self from the rerj[uisitions of another party ; I had io 
fortify myself against the mistrust of ray own colleagues, 
of Carnot among the rest, who, from having been a re- 
publican, had become so attached to the emperor, that 
he had bewailed him with a flood of tears in my pre- 
sence, after having stood alone, and that abortively, 
against the measure of his abdication. 

It may be easily conceived, that I did not succeed in 
muzzling this mob of high functionaries, marshals, and 
generals, by any other means than pledging my head, 
if I may so express myself, for the safety of their per- 
sons and fortunes. It was in this manner that I obtain- 
ed a carte blanche to negotiate. 
-i began with sending to Wellington's head-quarters, 

my friend M. G , a man of probity, and on whom I 

, placed entire reliance : He was the bearer of two let- 
ters, sewed in the collar of his coat, one for the king, 
and the other for the Duke of Orleans ; for up to the 
latest moment, and while involved in protracted uncer- 
tainty, as to the intention of the allies, no means could 
justifiably be neglected for returning into safe harbour. 
My emissary was introduced, accordingly, to Lord Wel- 
lington, and told him that he wished to be presented to 
the Duke of Orleans. "He is not here," the generalis- 
simo replied; "but you can address yourself to your 
king." And, in fact, he took the road to Cambray, and 
presented himself to his majesty. Finding that he did 

not return, I despatched General de T- , on the 

same errand ; a man of feeling and intelligence, whom I 
expressly commissioned to sound the intention of Lord 
Wellington, to apprize him of my peculiar situation, to 
state how much the public mind was exasperated, and 
public feeling inflamed ; and that I could not answer for 
the preservation of France from the scoiu'ge of fire 
t.nd sword, if the design of re-seating the Bouibons on 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 457 

the throne was persevered in. I offered to treat direct- 
ly with him on any other basis. The reply of the ge- 
nerahssimo was on this occasion peremptory and nega- 
tive ; he declared that he had orders not to treat on 
any other basis than the re-establishment of Louis 
XVIII. As to the Duke of Orleans, he could only be 
considered, — so Lord Wellington expressed himself, — 
in the light of an usurper, of good family. This reply, 
which I carefully concealed from my colleagues, render- 
ed my position still more embarrassing. 

On the other hand, our plenipotentiaries, having left 
Laon on the 26th of June, arrived on the first of July 
at the head-quarters of the allied sovereigns, at Hague- 
nau. There the sovereigns, not considering it conve- 
nient to grant them an audience, appointed a commis- 
sion to hear their proposals. The question which 1 had 
foreseen did not fail of being addressed to them ; "by 
what right does the nation pretend to expel its king, 
and choose another sovereign?" They replied, "by an 
example derived from the History of England itself." 

Apprized by this question of the inclinations of the 
allies, the national plenipotentiaries exerted themselves 
less to obtain Napoleon II., than to repel Louis XVIIl. 
They insinuated, in fact, that the nation might accept 
the Duke of Orleans or the King of Saxony, if it was 
not permitted to secure the throne to the son of Maria 
Louisa. After several unimportant parleys, they were 
dismissed with a note, implying, that the allied court 
could not, for the present, enter into any negotiation ; 
that they considered it as a sine qua non, that Napoleon 
should be placed for the future out of a condition to dis- 
turb the repose of France and Europe; and that, after 
the events which had occurred in March, the allied 
powers found it their duty to demand that he should be 
placed under their superintendence. 

The committee of government then found itself frus- 
trated in its hope of obtaining the Duke of Orleans or 
Napoleon II. Even before the return of the plenipo- 
58 



458 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

tentiaries, I was directly informed of the real intentions 
JS^ the allied powers. 
"""^^ I employed myself from that time in imparting such 
a direction to the course of events as should cause them 
to terminate in a result at once most favourable to my 
country and to myself. I had demanded an armistice, 
and with that view sent commissioners* to the allied 
generals, who had just commenced the siege of the ca- 
pital. Blucher and Wellington eluded every proposal 
on the subject, raising more than objections against the 
government of Napoleon II. ; adverting to Louis XVIII. 
as the only sovereign who appeared to them calculated 
to unite in his person all the conditions which would 
prevent Europe from exacting future pledges for its se- 
curity; and vehemently complaining of the presence of 
Bonaparte at Paris, in contempt of his abdication. 
That personage, as if a fatality impelled him to plunge 
into the abyss which yawned before him, had, in the 
first instance, persevered instead of precipitately gaining 
one of our sea-ports, in remaining at the palace of the 
Elysee ; subsequently at Malmaison, in the protracted 
hope of repossessing himself of authority, if not as em- 
peror, at least as general. Urged by fanatical friends, 
he even went so far as to address to us a formal demand 
of that description. It was then that I exclaimed, to a 
full meeting of the committee : " This man is mad to a 
certainty; does he wish, then, to involve us in his 
ruin ?" And here I am bound to say, that the whole 
committee, even Carnot himself, voted with me for a 
definitive resolution to be taken with respect to him. 
His actions were superintended, and Davoust was deter- 
mined to arrest him on the least attempt which he 
might make to seduce the army from us. It was so 
much the more incumbent upon us to take a decisive 
step with reference to him, as the enemy's cavalry, 
pushing their detachments even as far as the environs 

* MM. Andreossy, Boissy-d' Anglas, Flaugergues, Valence, and 
J-abesnardiere. — Note, by the French Editor. 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 459 

of Malmaison, might capture him from one moment to 
another; and some share in such an event would not 
have failed to be imputed to myself. It was necessary 
to negotiate for his departure, and to send a general 
officer to superintend it. The result is known. This 
short explanation of facts will be sufficient to rebut the 
accusations of blind and malicious detractors, who, per- 
ceiving some resemblance between the captivity of Na- 
poleon and that of Perseus, King of Macedonia, have 
attributed the former to treacherous combinations, 
which, computing days and hours, delivered him into 
the hands of the English through the operation of an 
underhanded and skilfully-conducted intrigue. 

We hoped, after the departure of Napoleon, to be 
able to obtain an armistice, — but it came to nothing. It 
was then that I wrote the two letters, which have been 
made public, to each of the generals-in-chief of the be- 
sieging armies. It may be remarked in those letters, 
wherein I feigned, in conformity with the necessity of 
the case, to plead the cause of Napoleon II., that I con- 
sidered the question irrevocably decided in favour of 
the Bourbons ; but, in order to lull the vigilance of par- 
ties, it was indispensable for me to exhibit the appear- 
ance of alternately leaning towards the younger branch, 
and the reigning branch. I hoped, moreover, that by 
aiding Louis XVIII. to remount the throne, I should in- 
duce that prince to detach some dangerous individuals 
from his presence, and to make new concessions to 
France, reserving to myself if I could obtain noihiiig, 
the privilege of subsequently recurring to other com- 
binations. 

I had at that time some nocturnal conferences with 
M. de Vitrolles, whose liberty I had just procured, and 
with several other eminent royalists, as well as two 
marshals, who inclined towards the Bourbons. I des- 
patched emissaries at the same time to the King, the 
Duke of Wellington, and M. de Talleyrand. I knew 
that M. de Talleyrand, after quitting Vienna, had pro- 
ceeded to Frankfort, and subsequently to Wisbaden, in 



460 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

order to be nearer at hand for the purpose of negotiat- 
ing either with Ghent or Paris. Decided as he was 
against Napoleon, he, howeyer, thought it proper, on 
his return to Paris, to come to an understanding with 
me, promising, on his side, to secure my interest with 
the Bourbons, whose re-estabhshment after the battle 
of Waterloo appeared to hiui infallible. 1 thought that 
he would at that time be near the person of the king, 
and I knew, beyond a doubt, that, in order to retain 
the control over affairs, he would require the dismissal 
of M. de Blacas. I arranged my measures accordingly. 
But it was aluiost impossible to avoid exciting the dis- 
trust of my colleagues. My proceedings \vere watch- 
ed, and I was obliged to support reproaches and indig- 
nant declamations from some revolutionary and Bona- 
partist partisans, whose imputations I coldly repelled. 
Such was my position, that I was obliged to have nego- 
tiations with all parties, and compromise with all the 
shades of opinion either attached to my interest or to 
that of the state. 1 did not disguise from myself that 
conduct such as this, which of necessity comprised some- 
thing mysterious and underhanded, was calculated to 
rouse all kinds of suspicions against me, as well as all 
kinds of resentment on the part of factions wounded in 
their dearest hopes. The formidable moment would 
naturally be that when light should dawn on this chaos 
of multitudinous and conflicting intrigues. 

A more serious and dangerous consideration still was 
the ferment of x\ie federes^ and the violence of the fa- 
natics in the chamber, who by turns excited against me 
the individuals of my own party, the soldiers, and the 
populace. I wrote to Lord Wellington that it was 
high time to put a stop to their ravings and excesses, 
or that they would shortly leave me without the capa- 
bility of acting. But Wellington was thwarted by his 
intractable colleague, Blucher ; that Prussian general, 
impelled by his native impatience and irritability, wish- 
ed to penetrate into Paris, in order, as he said, to se- 
cure the better class of citizens from the pillage with 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 461 

which they were menaced by the mob ; and he profess- 
ed that it was only within the walls of the capital he 
would consent to the conclusion of an armistice. His 
letter exasperated us; but what could we do? It was 
necessary to sustain a siege, and give battle under the 
walls of Paris, or capitulate. Discouraged by the ab- 
dication, the soldiers appeared irresolute, and even the 
generals were intimidated by the uncertainty of the 
prospect. The minister of war and general-in-chief of 
the army, Davoust, wrote to me to the effect that he 
had conquered his prejudices, and was now persuaded 
that no other means of safety remained than that of in- 
stantly proclaiming Louis XVIII. I laid my answer 
before the committee. The members thought that I 
looked at the question of the recal of Louis XVIII. in 
too implicit a manner, and that I gave Davoust too 
great a degree of latitude. I got over this trivial diffi- 
culty, the marshal's determination having appeared to 
me so important, that I had promised him safe conduct, 
on behalf of the king, through the intervention of M= 
de Vitrolles. 

Compelled to deliberate upon our military position, 
the committee, in conformity with my advice, appeal- 
ed to the intelligence, the counsel, and the responsibi- 
lity of the most experienced individuals in the art of 
war. The principal generals were, convoked in pre- 
sence of the presidents and official men of the two 
chambers. A report of the situation of Paris was made 
through the medium of Carnot, who had himself visit- 
ed our positions, and those of the enemy. Carnot de- 
clared, that the left bank of the Seine was entirely un- 
covered, and offered a wide field to the enterprise of 
the generals-in-chief of the two combined armies, who 
had just marched the major part of their forces in that 
direction. 1 confess that I attached great national im- 
portance to the circumstance of preventing a protract- 
ed defence of Paris. We were in a desperate condi- 
tion; the treasury was empty, credit extinct, and the 
government at the last extremity ; in short, Paris, in 



462 MEMOIRS OF FC|UCHE. 

consequence of the existence an^ collision of so many dif- 
ferent opinions was stationed over the mouth of a vol- 
cano. On the other hand, its neighbourhood was daily 
inundated by new arrivals of foreign troops. If, under 
circumstances like these, the capital should be carried 
by main force, we had nothing further to hope ; nei* 
ther capitulation, arrangement, nor concession. In one 
single day, which would thus complete what Leipsic 
and Waterloo left undone, all the interests of the revo- 
lution might be forever ingulphed in a torrent of French 
blood. This, nevertheless was what the fanatics of a 
party, in its last death-struggles, desired. 

In such a- crisis, was it not deserving, well of the 
country, to replace France, without effusion of blood, 
under the authority of Louis XVIII." ? Should we have 
waited till foreign armies delivered us bound hand and 
foot into the hands of our adversaries ? I succeeded, 
by virtue of mingled insinuations and promises, in per- 
suading individuals, who till that moment had been in- 
tractable. 

It was decided that the military question should be 
submitted the night following to a council of war con- 
voked by Marshal Davoust. The possibility of defend- 
ing Paris was thus about to be determined. To capi- 
tulate would save Paris, but compromise the national 
cause ; to give battle would be attended by great and 
inevitable dangers, to a capital distracted by all the ex- 
cesses of popular fury, in case we should be vanquish- 
ed. And, m fact, to what tremendous risks would 
those whose wish it was to give battle have exposed 
that immense city, and France itself in the event of a 
defeat. 

The discussions Were solemn ; and in consequence of 
the negative and unanimous resolution of the council of 
war, the committee decreed, that Paris should not be 
defended, and that the town should be delivered into 
the hands of the allies, since they would not consent to 
suspend hostilities on any other condition. But Blu- 
cher required the additional surrender of the army ; 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 463 

such a clause could not be accepted ; it was to require 
that every thing should be delivered up to fire and 
sword. I hastily despatched to the two hostile gene- 
rals, MM. Tromeling and Macirone, to whom I con- 
signed, without the knowledge of the committee, a con- 
fidential note conceived in these terms : " The army is 
dissatisfied because it is unfortunate ; be easy on this 
point, it will become faithful and devoted. The cham- 
bers are intractable, for the same cause. Tranquillize 
the mind of the public, and the public will be in your 
favour. Let the army be kept at a distance ; the 
chambers will assent to this, if guarantees specified by 
the king be promised as addenda to the charter. In 
order to understand each other well, mutual explana- 
tion is necessary ; do not therefore make your entrance 
into Paris, till after three days. In that space of time, 
every body will have come to our agreement. The 
chambers will be gained over ; they will conceive them- 
selves to be independent, and sanction every thing un- 
der that impression. It is not force which ought to be 
employed in their case, but persuasion." 

Blucher soon became more manageable ; and consent 
was given to negotiate the military surrender of Paris, 
which was concluded at Saint Cloud, on the 3d of July. 
I objected to the name of capitulation being given to 
this treaty ; and I caused that of convention to be sub- 
stituted for it, which appeared to me less harsh, and 
therefore more unobjectionable. 

Faction was still in too exasperated a state to allow 
of security from tumult and disorder. It was necessary 
to oppose the national guard to the federes, who were 
not restrained without difficulty, by the mass of peacea- 
ble citizens. Real, who had the direction of ihefederes, 
and who I knew was very easily frightened, yielded to 
my advice, affecting to be taken ill, and left his place 
of prefect of police to shift for itself. The faction gave 
the post to Courtin, a protege of Queen Hortense, who 
though exhibiting in her own person a wonderful intre- 
pidity during the whole of the great crisis, vainly en- 



464 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

deavoured to bolster up the relics of the expiring Bona- 
partist party. All these manoeuvres concluded in their 
own defeat, by the greatest of all interests, the interest 
of the public. It was not long before imputations were 
made against the generals and the committee, of having 
sacrificed Paris, and betrayed the army. In order to 
justify the conduct of the government, I addressed an 
explanatory proclamation to the French, in which I 
pointed out the vital necessity of a union of all ranks, 
Avilhout which there was no probability of reaching the 
term of our misfortunes. 

After having capitulated with the foreigners, it was 
necessary to capitulate with the array, who, at the very 
moment of marching to the Loire, mutinied, in order to 
extort from us their arrears of pay ; thanks to some 
millions, advanced by the banker Lafitte, the mutineers 
were disarmed, and the needy satisfied. Meantime, all 
the emissaries and agents of the king, and among the 
rest, M. de VitroUes, with whom Davoust and myself 
conferred, assured us, that the king would shut his eyes 
upon all that had passed, and that a general reconcilia- 
tion would be the earnest of his return. I had already 
conquered repugnancy in many quarters by the aid of 
promises, when the royal proclamations, dated from 
Cambray and printed by order of the chambers, made 
their appearance. 

This event created a new embarrassment in my posi- 
tion, with regard to the chamber of representatives, 
who exhibited an increasing hostility against the Bour- 
bons. We soon learnt, from the return of our agents 
and commissioners, that Wellington and Blucher declar- 
ed, in an unqualified manner, that the authority of the 
chambers and the committees proceeded from an illegi- 
timate source, and that consequently the best thing they 
could do was to dissolve themselves, and proclaim Louis 
XVIII. 

The committee, then, at the instance of Carnot, deli- 
berated, if it would not be proper to establish a rally- 
ing point, both for the chambers and the army, behind 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 465 

the Loire. I vehemently contended against this propo- 
sal, which would infallibly have rekindled the flames of 
foreign and domestic war. I maintained that so despe- 
rate a project would ruin France; that I was, moreo- 
ver, satisfied that the greater part of the generals would 
not subscribe to it, and affirmed that I would be the last 
to quit Paris. Induced by my arguments, the commit- 
tee took the more wise and prudent course of waiting 
the issue of events in Paris. 

As soon as the convention of Paris was signed, the 
Duke of Wellington being informed of my wish to con- 
fer with him, expressed an inclination to come to an un- 
derstanding with me respecting the execution of the 
convention. The committee of government did not ob- 
ject to an interview which took place at the Chateau de 
JYeuilly. On that occasion, I frankly opened my mind 
to the generalissimo of the allies. I well knew the 
eflicacy of such words as moderation and clemency in 
seducing the higher order of minds ; and, without seek- 
ing to diminish the culpability of those who had be- 
trayed the Bourbons, I maintained that the re-establish- 
ed throne could only derive consolidation from an entire 
oblivion of the past. I represented how formidable 
and menacing the energy of the patriots still was, and 
referred to the management which would be necessary, 
in order to calm their effervescence ; I did not disguise 
the weakness of the royalists, their intractability and 
their prejudices; and 1 affirmed that there was no oth- 
er means of restoring tranquillity, than by opposing re- 
actions and resentments, and by leaving no faction to 
indulge the hope of predominating in the state. I 
claimed the execution of the two authentic declarations 
of England and Austria, purporting that their intention 
was not to continue the war with a design of re-estab- 
lishing the Bourbons, or imposing on France any govern- 
ment whatsoever. The generalissimo replied, that that 
declaration had no other object but that of preventing 
war, and was resorted to in the hope that France would 
not take up arms in the cause of Napoleon, after he had 
59 



466 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

been outlawed by the coDgress; but that, as we had 
risen in his favour, we had by that means liberated the 
allies from an engagement purely conditional. This 
sophistry did not leave a doubt upon my mind that we 
had been cajoled. Lord Wellington declared to me, 
without qualification, that the allied powers had formal- 
ly decided in favour of Louis XVIII., and that that so- 
vereign would make his entry into Paris on the 8th of 
July. General Pozzo di Borgo, who was present, re- 
peated the same declaration on behalf of the Emperor 
of Russia ; he communicated to me a letter from Prince 
Metternich and the Count de Nesselrode, expressive of 
a determination to recognise no one but Louis XVIII., 
and not to admit of any proposal at variance with the 
rights of that monarch. 1 then insisted on a general 
amnesty, and required guarantees. On these conditions 
I consented to serve the king, and even to give him such 
pledges as might be consistent with my reputation and 
honour. The generalissimo answered me, that it was 
determined to dismiss M. de Blacas, and that I should 
compose a part of the council, as well as M. de Talley- 
rand ; the king having condescended to continue rae in 
my office of general police ; but he did not disguise 
from me that all kind of measures were taken, in order 
that Napoleon might fall, as a hostage, into the power 
of the allies, and that it was required of me, that I 
should do nothing to favour his escape. It was also re- 
quired that the army should submit itself to the king, 
and that for the sake of example, a few of its chiels 
should be subjected to punishment. To this I object- 
ed ; I protested, that if Bonaparte had not made his 
appearance, a crisis would have equally ensued. All 
my objections failed in shaking a thoroughly made up 
resolution. I regarded the evil to be without remedy, 
but at all events capable of being palliated by my pre- 
sence in the council. The duke announced to me, that 
the next day he would himself present me to his majes- 
ty, or at least convey me in his carriage to the Chateau 
d'Arnouvillc. I replied, that it was ray intention to ad- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 46; 

dress a letter to the king, which I had composed, and 
which I communicated to him. It was conceived in the 
following terms : — 

"Sire, — The return of your majesty leaves no other 
duty to be performed by the members of the govern- 
ment, than that of divesting themselves of their func- 
tions. For the exoneration of my conscience, it is my 
request that I may be permitted faithfully to describe 
the state of public opinion and feeling in France. 

"It is not your majesty who is dreaded, since you 
have seen, during the space of eleven months, that a 
confidence in your majesty's moderation and justice sus- 
tained the French people, in the midst of the terror 
which the proceedings of a portion of your court were 
calculated to inspire. 

" It is universally known, that neither intelligence nor 
experience are wanting to your majesty; you under- 
stand France and your age ; you understand the power 
of opinion; but your condescension has loo often induc^ 
ed you to listen to the pretensions of those who follow- 
ed you into adversity. 

" From that time France was divided into two classes 
of people. It was, doubtless, a painful task for your 
majesty to be continually obliged to repress the above 
pretensions by acts resulting from your own will. How 
many times must you have regretted, that it was not in 
your power to oppose them by national laws. 

"If the same system be reproduced, and, if deriving 
all your powers from hereditary title, your majesty will 
not recognise any rights of the people but such as origi- 
nate from concessions of the crov^'n, France, as she was 
before, will be uncertain as to the nature of her duties ; 
she will continue to waver between her love for her 
country and her love for her prince ; between her in- 
clination and her information. Her obedience will have 
no other basis than her personal confidence in your ma- 
jesty ; and even if that conlidence be suflicient to main- 
tain respect, it is not by such means that dynasties ac- 
quire consolidation, and t'wt dangers are averted. Sire, 



468 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

your majesty is aware that those who urge the steps of 
power beyond its proper hmits are very inadequate to 
sustain it when its unity is shaken ; that authority im- 
pairs itself by a continual contest, which compels it to 
retrograde in all its proceedings ; that the fewer rights 
are left to the people, the more the well-founded dis- 
trust of that people prompts it to preserve such as can- 
not be disputed ; and that it is always by such means 
as these that loyalty becomes enfeebled, and that revo" 
lutions are matured. 

" We conjure you, Sire, deign for this once to consult no- 
thing but your own sense of justice and your own enlight- 
ened judgment. Be persuaded that the French people 
attach in these days as much importance to their liberty 
as to their life. They will never consider themselves 
free, if there be not rights, equally inviolable, interpose 
ed between them and the claims of power. Have we 
Dot had, under your dynasty, states-general independent 
of the monarch ? 

" Sire, your wisdom cannot wait for events, in order 
to make concessions. Under such circumstances, they 
will be prejudicial to your interests, and, probably, in- 
crease in their extent. Concessions made at this time 
would soothe and pacify the public mind, and give force 
to royal authority — at a later period, concessions would 
only prove its weakness, such would be extorted by dis- 
order; and the public mind will retain its state of exa- 
cerbation." 

This letter was addressed on the very day in ques- 
tion to his majesty. At my return to Paris, I declared 
to the committee, that the return of Louis XVIII. was 
inevitable ; that such was the determined resolution of 
the allied powers, and that the tiuie was even fixed to 
be the day after to-morrow. I concealed from them 
that I was retained in office; a circumstance which, in- 
stead of being considered in the light of a guarantee to 
the patriots, and a species of letting down, which might 
enable a legitimate government, with less violence of 
johock, Xo succeed a de, facto government, would hav?- 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 469 

appeared to the fanatics in the light of the wages for 
my treachery, when, in fact, it was nothing but the de- 
served reward of saving Paris. That very evening, the 
news got wind, and the same individuals loaded me, in 
their harangues, with calumnies and maledictions; the 
royalists alone addressed me in the language of congra- 
tulation. Yes, I repeat, the royalists ; and among the 
most distinguished wtiters of that party, there are some 
who have since confessed, that there was a universal 
exclamation from all parts of the country, to the effect 
that without me there was neither security for the king 
nor safety for France : and that all parties had come to 
an understanding on the necessity of continuing me in 
office. The next day I proceeded towards St. Denis, 
and presented myself at the Chateau d'Arnouville, in 
order to have my first audience of the king. I was in- 
troduced into his closet by the president of the council, 
who leant upon my arm. I entreated the king to tran- 
quillize the public mind by securing all individuals in 
the enjoyment of their personal security ; 1 represented 
to him that clemency was, no doubt, accompanied by 
disadvantages, but that the capitulation, just concluded, 
appeared, as a matter of necessity, to reject every other 
system ; that a full and entire amnesty, and without 
any conditions, appeared to me the only method to im^ 
part stability to the state, and durability to the govern- 
ment ; that, in this instance, pardon was little more than 
another word for justice; and that by an amnesty I un-9 
derstood not only an oblivion of offences, but also a pre-? 
servation of places, property, honours, and titles. My 
discourse appeared to have made an impression on the 
king, who listened to it with unbroken attention. That 
prince was fully aware of the need in which Ave stood 
of skilfulness and tranquillity, in order to re-assemble 
the elements which time and circumstances had dispers- 
ed. I thought I perceived that he comprehended the 
necessity of throwing a veil over past faults, and of 
gaining confidence, by exemplary moderation and good 
faith. I made a point of rendering this interview as 



470 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

public as possible, in order to give public opinion an op- 
portunity of foreseeing a probable term to our discords 
and calamities. 

I did not confine myself to entreaties ; I went so far as 
t^ represent to the king, that Paris was in the most vio- 
lent state of excitement ; that there would be danger to 
his person in showing himself at the gates of the capital 
with the white cockade, and accom|)anied exclusively by 
the emigrants of Ghent. My plan consisted in main- 
taining the continuance of the chambers, in engaging the 
king to assume the tricolor cockade, and to dismiss all 
his military household. In a word, it was my wish, as 
it always had been, to see Louis XVI I J. heading the 
march of the revolution, and so contributing to its con- 
solidation. 

These different views were submitted to deliberation 
in the council ; my proposals were only rejected by the 
majority of a single vote. The king, however, remain- 
ed immovable. Sooner than consent, he declared he 
would rather return to Hart well Accordingly, his mi- 
litary household was not dissolved, and it was de- 
cided that the representatives should be expelled next 
day from the chamber. That chamber had just laid 
down, in a new bill of rights, the fundamental principles 
of the constitution which, according to the views it en- 
tertained, could alone satisfy the public desire. Although 
I had not expected much success from my proceedings, 
because ray tact in public affairs had sufficiently appriz- 
ed me of their tendency, it appeared to me that I j ght 
to neglect nothing for the acquittal of my conscience. 

The very evening of the 7th of July, several Prussian 
battalions forced the gates of the Tuileries, and invaded 
the courts and the avenues of the palace. The com- 
mittee of government, being no longer free, discontinu- 
ed its functions, and announced the fact by a message. 
One particular circumstance rendered this separation of 
my colleagues remarkable. Carnot, one of the most decid- 
ed in objecting to my retainment in office, and to his own 
subjection, if I m'4y use the phrase, to my supervision, 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 471 

while waiting till a place of residence was appointed 
for him, wrote me the following note; " Traitor ! where 
do you require me to go?" I answered him in the same 
laconic manner; "Simpleton! where jou please." It 
must be confessed that I had in the council more than 
one altercation with Carnot, who never forgave me for 
having called him an old woman. 

The next day, as early as eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the deputies made their appearance, in order to 
enter the hall of their deliberations ; but finding the 
doors closed, surrounded by guards and gendarmes^ they 
withdrew. A few of them repairing to the house of 
their president,, there subscribed a protest. 

The king made his public entry into Paris ; nothing 
disturbed the excessive joy of the royalists, who hurried 
to meet their monarch, and exhibited themselves in 
very considerable numbers. I must confess that my 
presentiment was, in some degree, falsified, and that all 
my apprehensions did not receive confirmation. Thus 
finished the reign of a hundred days, and thus re-com- 
menced a reign interrupted during its first year. But 
what were the omens which accompanied this new ac- 
cession ? All the passions which inflame each other; 
all the resentments which thirst for satiation; all the 
interests which struggle and contend together; all the 
phrensy which lashes itself into outrage; in short, all 
the ulcerated feelings which burn for re-action ! In so 
deplorable a conjuncture, I did not withhold from my 
country the benefit of my labours and exertions. 

The surrender of Bonaparte, the successive submis- 
sion of all the towns and all the provinces in France, 
soon announced that the country was pacified in all such 
respects as could interest the allied sovereigns; but it 
could not be perfectly so, as regarded the repose and 
welfare of the king, unless every thing was forgotten; 
unless there was an equal restraint upon all extreme 
opinions, from whatsoever source those opinions might 
be derived ; and unless, in short, all the parties of the 
state enjoyed the protection of the laws, with the same 
certainty and the same security. 



472 MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 

Such were the counsels of moderation and clemency, 
which I gave to Louis XVIII, (as I had previously 
given them to Napoleon,) at the same time that I pro- 
posed efficacious measures for averting the results of all 
such causes as tended to re-plunge France into the abyss 
of a new revolution. But all individuals, either in or 
out of the council, did not share my views; examples 
and punishments were considered necessary. I had al- 
ready, for a fortnight, constituted a part of the royal 
administration, when the ordonnance of the 24th of July 
made its appearance ; fifty-seven individuals, divided into 
two categories, were therein proscribed, without trial. 
It was asked, how I could countersign such an act, 
which affected individuals who had pursued the same 
line of politics as myself. Let it be understood, then, 
that ever since the day following the 8th of July, the 
desire of proscribing had possessed all classes of the 
royalist party, from the salons of the Faubourg St. Ger- 
main, to the ante-chambers of the palace of the Tuile- 
ries, and that millions of names, obscure as well as noto- 
rious, were indicated to the police department for the 
purpose of being involved in a general measure of pro- 
scription. Heads were demanded of the minister of 
police, as pledges of his sincere devotion to the royal 
cause. There only remained two paths for me to fol- 
low; that of making myself an accomplice in acts 
of vengeance, or that of renouncing office. To the first 
I could not subscribe; the second I was too deeply 
compromised to adopt. 1 discovered a third expedient, 
and that was to reduce the list to a small number of 
names, selected from persons who had performed the 
most conspicuous part during the late events ; and here, 
I must confess, that I met, in the council, and more es- 
pecially in the eminently French feelings of the mo- 
narch, with every thing that was calculated to mitigate 
those measures of overstrained rigour, and to diminish 
the number of the victims. 

But the torrent of re-action threatened to sweep 
away all the barriers opposed to it. 1 had conceived 



MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE. 473 

the design of acting the part of mediator between the 
king and the patriots. I soon perceived that the only 
intention was to make use of me as a necessary instru- 
ment for thie»re-estabhshment of a royal power without 
counterpoise and Hmit, and which would have supplied 
no guarantee to the men of tlie revolution. The two 
ordonnances^ with regard to the electoral colleges and 
the elections which were about tp furnish France with 
the chamber of 1815, left me no longer a shadow o^' 
doubt upon this point. It has been thought, that 1 ex- 
hibited a culpable neglect in the formation of the elec- 
toral colleges; and it has been said, that it was no lon- 
ger excusable in a statestpan like myself, grown old ill 
experience and the exercise pf important functions, to 
comaait such a political error, nor to be mistaken as to, 
the bias which the rojalist faction, now re-possessed of 
influence, exerted Itself to irppart to public opinion. 
My principles, and my anterior conduct, ought to have 
secured me from similar imputations. This accusation 
of unprophetic levity and fatal indinference in grave 
conjectures, must be appropriated to the amiable ego- 
tism, and the nonchalante supmene^a of the president of 
the council, who indulged himself in sensual illusions, 
and did not wish to see any thing else in the JaiUeuil ox 
a minister but a bed of roses. 

I was roused by this; it was now that my notes, ad- 
dressed to the allied powers, and my reports, presented 
to the king in full council, appeared to the world. I 
had composed them in conformity with the wishes of the 
allied sovereigns, in order to supply them with materials 
for judging of the actual condition of France. The 
publication of those docunicnts produced a profound 
sensation in enlightened minds; but their contents exas- 
perated to the highest degree the ultra-royalist party,* 
who regarded its influence as lost if my disclosures led 
to a change of system. The king himself was displeas- 

* It was Fouche who first made use of this expression, which has 
since become familiar, and which indepd ha^ been quite worn out.— 
JVote by the French Editor 

60 



474 ' MEMOIRS OF FOUCHE, 

ed at the publicity given to reports of a confidential na^ 
ture : but I had pre-considered my position; deceived 
by M. de Vitroiles, whom I had introduced into the 
king's cabinet, deserted by the president of the council, 
whom the past did not obhge to sacriiice the present, 1 
perceived that ray fall was inevitable, unless I could 
succeed in giving preponderance to my designs. 

Shall I confess it in this place ? Yes ; — 1 have pro- 
mised to disguise nothing. My notes and my reports 
•were intended to impart unity and integrity to the dis- 
located and scattered members of the revolution, and 
especially to give Europe cause to fear a national insur- 
rection; by that means, I hoped to intimidate her so 
much, on the score of an explosion, that she would con- 
sent to grant us, as the price of a definitive treaty of 
peace, that which I had never ceased soliciting since 
the congress of Prague — the dynasty of Napoleon, which 
had become the single object of our secret demands, of 
our desires, and ©f our efforts. The interview of two 
powerful monarcbs contributed to disperse hopes which 
were not without foundation. It belongs to history to 
collect and compare circumstances which it docs not 
appertain to me to elucidate. It appears, as if I were 
summing up my whole life, when I declare, that it was 
my wish to conquer for the revolution, and that the re- 
volution has been conquered in me. 



HE END, 



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